Geek Swagger.
Internet
If you aren’t using this you should be
Dec 13th
It's been sort of a slow news week and to be honest I haven't had much time to dedicate to post-writing with finals and so forth, so this will (hopefully) be a quick one about an application/website that's been around for a while but I just found out about recently. One of the nice things about modern networked computing is the ability access machines across the network either with , , or whatever your preferred method of connection is. This is all well and good when you're on the same network as the machine you want to get remote access to, but what if you aren't? There's always the issue of being able to find your computer across the internet - especially if you're using an ISP that issues dynamic IP addresses. It's near impossible to get a legitimate connection since every few hours or so your machine will be issued a new IP address. So what's a geek to do?
. What they let you do is set up a domain for the purpose of rerouting traffic to a computer of your choice. All you have to do is , give them the host name you'd like to use, and install their little Dynamic Update Client on your host machine (the machine you'd like to access remotely). Then, whenever you want to remote desktop into that machine (as long as the DUC is running on it) all you have to do is set the remote address to the host name you setup at No-IP's website. Say for instance I wanted to make a DmK host, it would be something like "dmk.no-ip.biz," and I could type that into my remote desktop client, hit connect, and bam you're connected across the internet. There has been programs out like this for a long time but a lot of them are pay services. This is completely free. The only thing you really have to deal with is making sure you renew your host name with No-IP every couple months. As a result of this being a free service you'll get an email from them occasionally saying they'll delete your host name if you aren't still using it. All you have to do is hit a link they provide to renew your host name and you're set.
So that's it, really. A pretty simple fix for a fairly common problem, and now I can get to my main computer that's sitting at home from . It's available for all platforms (, , ) so you have no excuse to not give it a shot! Thanks to for giving me this info a ways back. =)
Now Playing:
My new passion
Dec 11th
A lot of people these days tend to hate on . In some cases their gripes are , in others they're . Regardless, there are some areas where Microsoft is doing some great things and, unfortunately, they tends to go somewhat unnoticed. The newest thing I've started to really dig is a product of Microsoft's initiative. This isn't like (though that's great too) but instead it's a suite of online and desktop applications that revolve around Internet activity. Namely , , , and . I've talked about Windows Live Writer before (I still think it's the best blogging tool there is, I'm using it to write this) but the rest of the Windows Live experience was sort of under my radar. That is until I heard interview from the Windows Live team, and they were able to discuss a lot of the current and upcoming Windows Live applications.
I had seen the latest revision to Microsoft's hotmail which I liked, but that alone wasn't enough to topple . Then Dave Fortin talked about the calendar they have integrated with Hotmail and the new SkyDrive which is basically virtual storage space. You only get a gigabyte through SkyDrive right now but if you've ever needed to host some documents, music, or pictures online where you can have access to them from any computer with an internet connection I think it's a good way to go. With these breakthroughs in mind I went ahead and created a Live account and I was impressed from the start. You're offered a -like page with a clean interface allowing you to access your upcoming calendar events, your email inbox, your SkyDrive so you can upload and downloaded media, your Windows Live "Space" (think MySpace + blogging), and so forth. This is all offered in an extremely tidy little page that I think is pretty attractive. One thing I never liked about Google IG is that when you start adding all of your extra little doodads and widgets the page can become cluttered fast. That's not so with your Windows Live homepage. You can't really add anything extra (no RSS feed support or anything like that) but I think that's a definite benefit. There is however one-button access to composing an email, adding a calendar date, and starting a session (plus more). Think of Windows Live as your professional online presence where as Google might be your personal.
My favorite part of the package has to be hotmail's new interface. You no longer have to use a hotmail ID (though you can use one if you have one, or create a new one). You can instead sign up for an @live account which allows you to access all of the other features I've gone over already. Hotmail now looks a lot like Windows / looks on the desktop - except it's in your browser. If you've ever used an webmail account you'll be right at home and probably even more so since you can customize the look of your inbox easily. If you haven't used exchange what this means is that you can get more robust access to your email. For instance you can get email previews, little snapshots of your email without actually opening the message. This comes in incredibly handy when you just need to check a message real quick. There is also a lot of contact integration. The other shining star here is the calendar application. I think it destroys personally - it's easier to manage and much more appealing to the eye which, with a calendar, is key. Again it's similar to Outlook calendars you might have used in the past but it's encapsulated in the browser. What the Windows Live team has successfully done is come as close to replicating Microsoft's email client in Vista and XP, only now you can access it in your .
Still - what if you're just not one for webmail? What if you absolutely HAVE to have a desktop email client? Windows Live has you covered there too with their app. Live Mail is nearly identical to Live Hotmail with one caveat - you can access multiple accounts simultaneously. After you install Live Mail it will ask you to create or sign into a current Live account (this includes Hotmail), and once you do that you'll have all of that account's email right in front of your eyes. If you want to check a different account all you have to do is click the account drop-down in the top right, click 'Change Sign-in ID' and bam you can login to a different account. The best part about this is that it keeps all of the different accounts in the left pane of the application so you can access messages from different accounts with one session (and one window). It doesn't sound like much but it's another handy feature.
So that's my Windows Live post. I'm really getting hooked on it and I wish it would take off and have more success then it currently has. Windows Live is a shining example that, although Microsoft gets a bad rap online, they're still doing some pretty cool things. Give it a look and let me know what you think. If you're feeling particularly adventurous you can go ahead and send me an email about it at dmkemick(at)live(dot)com! I'm trying to get used to using that account more and more as I move forward. I don't know if will completely replace Gmail for me but at least it's a nice change. Also, when I came back to link this post a few hours after I wrote it I noticed that the colors of my Live homepage had changed to a nice darker color to coincide with the weather displayed in the top left corner. Earlier today the color was a lighter blue and now that it's night it has changed to a dark blue/purple. Just another nice little aesthetic touch.
Now Playing:
I’m not angry…really…
Nov 29th
We've all seen them. Whether in the office, on campus, or even at home. They're those little notes someone writes when they're frustrated but trying their best to not come off as a total jerk. The result? Generally a sarcastic little quip that might just hurt your feelings a bit. Yes, the great passive aggressive note - employed by some, feared by all. If you've ever seen one as a third party they can come off as pretty funny.
That's what a blog called is all about. People send in notes that either they have personally written or they've come across and they're posted to the blog. It's a great idea for a blog and I find myself going back to check on it a lot. The site may not be work safe as many of the authors of these notes clearly got wrapped up in the heat of the moment and let some profanity fly, but it's nothing too severe. Give the site a look, or hey, submit your own note so I (as well as many others) can get a laugh out of it down the road. My favorite one (so far) is the one that's shown above...turns out some people thought a food drive container was actually a garbage can. Pretty unfortunate.
I heard about this site from listening to the TWIT podcast so you might have already seen it. If you have, leave a comment and tell me which one's your favorite! I've only had a chance to check out the first couple pages of notes so there's a good chance that I haven't seen some of the better ones.
In other news I've hit a week of class during which a couple of my professors have decided to schedule tests so I've been busy hitting the books. After this week there's only one week of class and a week of finals until the Christmas break though! Man, has this semester flown by or what?
Now Playing:
,
New media
Nov 13th
I was struggling when trying to come up with a topic for today's post other than , but I thought that would be kind redundant. Yes, we all know Google is awesome, I don't think you need to be reminded every couple days. Instead I'm going to talk about something a little more personal - the content on the internet that I imbibe in every week. I've talked about the subject in previous posts but only in passing, and since my repertoire of content has expanded significantly since then I've decided it was a good time to revisit the topic. So here goes.
There are two primary sources for most of the media I view - and . That's a given. As far as TWiT goes I listen to several podcasts every week. The week generally starts out with on Monday, wherein gets a group of tech luminaries together to discuss the weekly news in the tech industry. A few of the most common guests (who also happen to be my favorite, when they're on) include Patrick Norton, Wil Harris, and of course . I think that's because I'm a traditionalist, and in Leo, Patrick, and Dvorak's case they're some of the founding panelists of TWiT who have been doing it since the beginning. Wil Harris hasn't been around quite that long but he's on frequently enough that I've become used to hearing his cheeky English accent. Around the middle of the week comes out wherein Leo once again gets a group of luminaries around, in this case Mac luminaries, to talk about...the Mac. Yeesh. Seems to be a pattern.
Then over the weekend things get complicating. If it's out on time then is usually a listen for me, but they seem kind of inconsistent with that particular show. Then if comes out (also a little unpredictable) I try and listen to it as well. Finally, and I'm surprised I'm even admitting to this, but I find myself listening to with Leo and Megan Morrone. It's a parenting podcast but the conversation generally gets pretty funny so if nothing else the comedic value is a good reason to tune in. I think I started listening to it because Megan was on TechTV back in the day so when I saw she was doing something new I had to check it out, and since then it has stuck. That's it for the TWiT network. There is, however, one other audio podcast I usually listen to every week - Webcomics Weekly. I already mentioned that in my Webcomics post though so I won't go into great detail. It's another funny show that keeps me listening week in and week out.
I try to watch a few Revision 3 shows as well. All of their content is available in video form so it adds another element to the equation I think. The shows I watch most fervently are , , and . Diggnation covers the weekly top news on Digg.com, The Totally Rad Show covers the latest in movies, games, TV and comics, and finally Tekzilla is a general home electronics show. The newest of the bunch is Tekzilla hosted by Patrick Norton and Jessica Corbin, and if you ever watched The Screen Savers when it was on you'll probably feel at home watching Tekzilla. It's the same basic formula. My favorite, however, is The Totally Rad show because it has three awesome hosts with a great dynamic, plus they're not afraid to straight geek it up on some subjects that aren't covered in any other Rev3 shows.
Other than that there's a lot of quick content I like to check out. I define quick content as anything that can be watched or listened to in around 10 minutes, and some of the stuff this includes is , , and . ChannelFlip is a lot like Revision 3 but the shows tend to be shorter which isn't a bad thing at all. If you check any of the links in this post out you'll find out that most of the people involved in these projects are from TechTV/ and or are affiliated with more than one of what I've mentioned. For example, I discussed Wil Harris' participation in the This Week in Tech podcast but he also runs ChannelFlip. I'm glad to see the whole group from back then minus a few are able to collaborate so much these days. Now they all just need to band into one network and the re-birth of TechTV will be complete. =P
After re-reading this post it seems like a total link farm and I apologize for that. Still, this is all great content that is, for me, replacing what I would normally be watching on TV. The only problem is that there's just so much of it and I'm starting to run out of time to keep up with it all. I suppose that's not the worst problem to have. This is just barely scratching the surface too by the way - when you look at services like , , and even some of the TV networks' online media players it's obvious that more and more programming will be available on the internet in the future. So stay tuned.
Now Playing:
,
The GooPhone
Nov 12th
Google finally announced their plans for the Google Phone. That is to say what we thought would be the Google phone. I've been anticipating this for a while since, being a geek, I'm always planning my next gadget purchase. As far as phones go I'm excited for the next revision of the iPhone as well as the . Either that or some other type of smart phone. Anyways, the Google Phone was definitely on my radar. So now I'm kind of bummed since the Google Phone, as of now, isn't really a phone at all - it's just an operating system that can be run on a phone. Details are still sketchy about the final product since it's at least two years off, but we know that it will be based around the that I had heard about prior to the official announcement.
Android is really just a mobile phone platform that Google will give to current cellphone companies to base their hardware around. The question about this is whether or not these companies, after getting the Android OS from Google, will just lock down the presumably open source software anyways. A couple of the companies Google is working with are , , and . Obviously missing from this list are companies like who have their own phone software that they're trying to push. Plus Apple. . I'm looking forward to seeing what these firms do with the .
Since the release of any Google-powered phone is still a ways off it's hard to imagine what one will be like, but most people who have written about this subject (and people who are just familiar with how Google works) agree that there will probably be some sort of localized ad-placement. If the phones are offered at a highly discounted price with, for instance, no monthly fees, you might be subject to some ad placement from the phone. For example, if you were walking down the street your phone might ping you and say "Hey, would you like to see where the closest restaurant is?" You could (hopefully) respond yes or no, and if yes they would feed you a little ad for the restaurant and perhaps give you a coupon or something of that nature. I really hope they don't force this on the user, it would make the phone a bother to use if you absolutely had
to subject yourself to the ad whether you wanted to see it or not. I'll be interested to see though, whether people might be willing to ditch their phone bill for a cheap or free phone and be okay with dealing with ads. A lot of us use and we're subjected to advertisements constantly and yet almost no one complains about it. Same thing about Google's search engine. If the hardware to back up the software is decent it might be something to look into, but that's all on the phone companies now.
Now Playing:
,
Webcomics.
Oct 25th
I've been meaning to do a post about webcomics and the particular ones I read regularly, and since I can't think of anything else to write about right now I suppose this is a good time. My taste has become varied since I first started reading a long time ago - but still if anyone reads this who is already familiar with webcomics you'll probably find no surprises here. I first got into webcomics through . Penny-Arcade is a webcomic that revolves around gaming news, which doesn't sound particularly fantastic but they were the first to do it right and be . There have been a lot of imitators since they rose to the top but no one has been able to duplicate what and do. The nice thing about Penny-Arcade is there are actually two creators - one excels at art and the other excels at writing. When you mix those together you get some content that really has value to it. I've grown to love Penny-Arcade so much over the past few years that I now look forward to Tycho's usually lengthy and wordy blog posts just as much as the comic itself. I say "blog post" because that's the only term I can think of to describe it, but what he writes is really much more than that. Perhaps it could be considered an essay. Tycho's a true and he's able to craft awesome posts which are related to the comic's subject. This adds a whole second dimension to Penny-Arcade which is why they're still my favorite. You can look forward to new strips every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Penny-Arcade became a sort of gateway drug to a couple other comics - and . I don't really read Control-Alt-Delete much anymore, but PvP is a worthy bookmark. Although it started out as a gaming comic too it has since evolved in a sort of sitcom of a webcomic with an awesome cast of characters that are the true focal point. PvP's creator, , is constantly striving to better himself and you can really tell from looking over his that he's made some giant leaps since he first began. He's a great story teller which keeps me coming back every Monday through Friday. As far as Control-Alt-Delete goes, it's another gaming webcomic that is purposefully cut from the Penny-Arcade cloth. The two comics are much too similar and Penny-Arcade is better on many more levels which makes reading CAD kind of pointless. It seems to be the same gag over and over and yet there are still a ton of CAD fans out there. If you're one of them I mean no disrespect, I'm just not a big fan of art or comedy style.
Then finally the one I just started reading recently is . Starslip's creator teams up with Scott Kurtz of PvP quite a bit so I found out about Starslip through PvP in a way. The two have a joint website together called where they post a lot of collaborative content. They're a great team, but that's not to take away from Straub's solo work. Starslip Crisis is a sci-fi comedy strip which again has very memorable characters and a lot of laughs. I'm sure there are a lot of other sci-fi webcomics out there but this is the only one I've ever come across and I really like it because it represents a unique genre compared to my other favorites. A new strip's up every Monday through Friday - just like PvP.
A couple other strips that may or may not be worth a look are and . I haven't really had much time to read these two webcomics but I've listened to their two creators in podcasts and they seem to have a lot of passion in their craft. They're also funny which can't hurt. Sheldon's creator and Evil Inc's do a podcast called along with Scott Kurtz and Kris Straub that's pretty interesting to listen to. At first I didn't think it would be for me because it was advertised as a serious "shop talk" type of podcast about comic creation but I listened to the first episode and they really have a lighthearted approach. A lot of what they talk about can be applied to a lot of other types of content creation, plus you'll always find some laughs along the way even if you aren't interested in the advice they're giving.
So that's it, that's what I used to read, what I'm currently reading, and what I may read in the future. It's funny - before I wrote this post I was sort of scrambling for something to write about and now that I look at this I think it might be one of my longest posts ever! I guess that just goes to show how much I value those 5 minutes a day I spend reading webcomics.
Currently Listening To:
Currently Playing: , ,
Morgan Webb has Bioshock. :(
Aug 16th
She did a story about the and even went so far as to wave her own pre-launch copy in our faces. I do take some solace in the fact that I haven't seen anyone get the from TRU - which I have preordered - but when it comes down to it I just want that damn game. Oh well, next Tuesday isn't too far off, is it?
Good vibes.
Aug 9th
I feel like writing a quick post - a nice change for anyone who reads this - about a new site I've been using a lot. It's called . Basically it's an awesome homepage filled to the brim with AJAX goodness that lets you place RSS feeds, widgets, and a lot of other things onto one page for your convenient viewing. The page can even have multiple tabs so you can set up a different tab for anything you want to keep track of.
For instance, I have 3 main tabs. My first tab is called Home (brilliant, I know) and it contains a few widgets like a notifier, notifier, and a few RSS feeds from some gaming sites. My second tab is devoted completely to and has about 10 feeds from all of the various sections of Digg. Finally, my third tab is called Media and it has a couple of feeds for podcasts like as well as a widget that can be used to quickly search the 'Tube for whatever I feel I need to watch. The nice thing about the podcast feeds is that NetVibes has a built-in media player so you can listen to the audio right from the NetVibes page without having to open up a separate application and without navigating away to a different site.
Another cool thing about NetVibes is that you can customize the way the pages look, not just by moving and placing your different page components, but also by creating your own custom color theme. You can even change the title of your NetVibes page to anything your heart desires. It's a pretty handy site and I'm using it regularly just out of convenience. I know there are some other home page sites out there like , and but I stumbled upon NetVibes first so it's the one I've chosen to use. If you have a personal favorite start page leave a comment and let me know what it is so I can give it a shot!
Where are they now?
Aug 7th
Back in the early 2000's there was a show on a long-gone channel (Tech TV) called The Screen Savers. To anyone who was into technology at the time The Screen Savers was one of the few TV-based bastions that could be depended on for reporting all of the latest in gadgets, software, and all around geekery. The show actually started in 1998 and ran until 2005, but I find the 2000 - 2003 era to contain the best episodes of the bunch. If you're really interested in learning more about the show's history go ahead and hit up its .
The Screen Savers was hosted by and and featured many other co-hosts (Kevin Rose, Megan Morrone, Morgan Webb, Sarah Lane, and Martin Sargeant just to name a few) and it was one of my favorite shows of all time. When the show disbanded in 2005 (after already having lost many of its key members due to the acquisition) I was sad to see it go. The nice thing though is that via the web I've been able to keep up with most of the cast, and in a way I'm almost happy that they decided to put TSS behind them. Today I'll cover some of my favorite audio podcasts, video podcasts, and IPTV offerings from the TechTV alumnus and alumna that I watch/listen to regularly.
Leo Laporte is now heading up the largest podcasting network that I know of: . The network's flagship podcast (and the show that gives TWiT its name) is This Week in Tech, a weekly roundtable discussion most commonly hosted by Leo himself, John C. Dvorak, and Pat Norton. The panel often varies however, and many other tech luminaries have participated. Other notable shows from the TWiT network include , , (featuring Amber Mac), and (featuring Megan Morrone) just to name a few. Leo participates in all of these podcasts himself. If you haven't heard of TWiT - it's hard to believe that you wouldn't have, if you're into tech - I'd definitely recommend giving it a look.
Patrick Norton was, up until just recently, co-hosting his own IPTV offering with Robert Heron called . The show is very similar to the Screen Savers' layout and has a lot of the same feel. I like it because it's still, for the time being anyways, the closest I can get to the "good ol' days." was from TechTV and is best-known for his extremely extensive knowledge on anything related to displays. , who is also a Tech TV escapee, can be found behind the cameras (and sometimes in front of them) producing the DL.TV webisodes. Just yesterday I heard that Patrick Norton had announced that DL.TV's would be his last. He already has another opportunity lined up however, so expect to see him again soon.
. Do I even need to say anything? . . . This guy has gone completely crazy since he left TechTV and has brought some of the coolest web 2.0 websites to fruition. Digg.com is a social news networking site where users can contribute stories which other users then rate, Pownce.com is a twitter-like miniblog that allows users to share files with their friends, and Revision3.com is the hottest IPTV offering currently available. I highly doubt Kevin regrets leaving the set of The Screen Savers whatsoever.
is one of the few TechTV holdouts who stuck with G4 after the switch, and she can still be found co-hosting with . She also just started a new web show, one that sort of gave me the idea for this post (along with a brief ), called (get it? Her last name is Webb! Oi...). There are only 4 episodes of Webb Alert available right now but the basic premise is that Morgan covers all of the hottest news from the blogosphere in handy little 5-minute bites a few times a week. It looks promising even in these early stages. Keep an eye on it.
There's one other person I wanted to mention: . You might not remember him even if you were a Tech TV viewer because he wasn't on-screen very often. He was, after all, the Vice President of the network so he might have had more important things to do. Even so, it's good to know who he is because he's a big player in web media. After TechTV he became editor in chief for PC Magazine and also managed several IPTV shows including DL.TV and John C. Dvorak's . Not long ago he left that position and is now the CEO of Revision 3.
So that's what they're doing now, for the most part. It amazes me to think how much the cast of The Screen Savers has done since they left the show. If Leo Laporte hadn't left TechTV I doubt podcasting would be as big as it has become, without Patrick Norton and Jim Louderback IPTV wouldn't be exploding right now, and if Kevin Rose had stayed on with G4 there probably would be no digg. Basically, without the lot of them, we'd have an internet that I'm not sure I'd want to inhabit!
Also, .
Currently Listening To:
Currently Playing:
