I have not been a big fan of Sony in the past.  I always saw them as a giant megacorporation driven by greed.  In many parts of my experience with them I have seen a take-take mentality.  From BetaMax to their stance on digital media rights, I time and time again see them making choices that profits them the most at the cost of consumer satisfaction. But that’s their right as a business correct? Yeah, but they could be a little cooler about it.

This leads me to my little story of woe.  This weekend I brought my PS3 over to a friends house to watch a Blueray.  Half an hour into the trip I realised I forgot to pack any remotes.  I thought I was sunk.  I started thinking about how to get around it.  Maybe the disk will auto play?  Doubtful.  Maybe I can download a virtural bluetooth remote and run it from my laptop?  This could work, but you still need a remote to add a new remote.

A very last minute idea was to plug in a simple USB keyboard.  This couldent possibly work!  No way Sony would allow a generic keyboard that did not pay sony tons of royalties to simply work.  It did.  The keyboard plugged in and navigated everything I needed like a charm.  I was floored!

Am I too easily forgiving Sony?  Possibly.  I have not forgotten the XCP Root kit.  But this small good deed combined with the PS3’s support of playing back videos with various codex’s, and the ease of upgrading its hard drive, is leaps and bounds in the right direction.

Now if only Verizon could be swayed to the side of good, now I must be dreaming.

I wanted some temporary wind deflectors for my 3600Mile ride to Key West and back to New England in chilly October.  So here’s a brief write up of how I saved money by making my own using a shoestring budget and elbow grease.

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An IronButt is a series of rides orchestrated by the Iron Butt Association or IBA.  They test the physical capability’s of a motorcycle rider with their numerous endurance certifications.  I specifically will be attempting the most common (and easiest) SaddleSore & Bunburner. These rides are 1000 miles in under 24 hours / 1500 miles in under 36 hours respectively.

Preparing for endurance rides is critical to ensure most importantly safety, and also a successful completion.

Mostly I have been preparing by riding every day I can, and my longest trip being 545Mi.  Whenever there is a nuance to my comfort, I correct it.  When you ride that long and hard, a minor thing can turn into a real big problem.

The trip.

I fell into some vacation time that I needed to use or lose, (more…)

When the free space on my aging 70Gig Raptor was reduced to 1Gig, I knew something was up.  The only things I have on C: is Windows Vista, basic apps, Steam games, and iTunes.

Using my favorite Hard Drive visualization software SpaceMonger (the free version). I saw some mysterious Windows folder called WinSXS taking up 13Gig’s, and it wasn’t the Hibernation file.

In as few words as possible, it is Microsoft’s fix for DLL Hell, and saves over 50,000 dll files…just in case.

If you want to reduce the amount of files in here, there is two things you can do.  Fresh install of Vista, or run the SP1 cleanup tool.

Vista SP1 Cleanup Tool instructions:

***NOTE: After you use this cleanup tool, you will no longer be able to remove Service Pack 1, should any problems occur. Make sure that the system is stable before using.

***NOTE 2: This tool is a one-time use tool. Once it’s used it will no longer work on the same installation.

Open Windows Explorer and navigate to C:\Windows\System32. Look for the file “vsp1cln.exe.”

Right click this file and select the ‘Run As Administrator’ option.

The Vista Service Pack 1 Cleanup Tool will remove all of the redundant files that it has replaced.

The amount of disk space you gain will depend on the system, what programs are installed, etc.

Running the cleanup tool freed up almost 3 gig’s.  Was hoping for more, but it is not bad.

As for iTunes, you can follow thease simple steps to move its files (Music) to a storage drive.

I try to think about the environment in the choices I make on a day to day basis.  Reducing waste, recycling, conserving energy, etc.  But sometimes America is thinking solely about the bottom dollar and could care less about our home, Earth.

On a road trip last summer I needed a pick me up because I was on my motorcycle (conserving gas) and was getting drowsy.  I stopped at a rest stop and ordered a medium coffee and requested a paper cup to reduce my use of Styrofoam. Reasonable request right?  Not so fast!

The employee proceded to pour my coffee into a styrofoam cup, prepare it, then dump the contents into a paper cup.  And finished off this enviromental slap in the face by tossing the foam cup.

Why can this be?

Come to find out the paper cups are larger than the foam ones and she couldent accidently give me extra coffee, oh no, it had to be just the right amount.

Another example of this crazyness is at the grocery store.

I requested paper bags one day thinking they breakdown faster in landfills, and better yet, are recyclable anywhere that accepts paper.  Come to find out the plastic bags are not only easily recyclable, but plastic is the only thing my store will recycle for bags, happily telling me I can toss the paper bags.

I can’t win.

I went in (regrettably) negative to the ShowDown LAN.  With the 600W (3.33A) power restrictions, no spending the night (it closed from 2am to 10am), and no outside food, I thought it wouldn’t have much to offer compared to the events run by LPANE.

But in the end I had a really great time and met some really cool people.

Saturday night we had a bit of a scare when the relentless rain flooding the streets of Worcester decided to come inside and came pretty close to the electrical equipment.  Thankfully a bunch of gamers jumped in to battle it back till the Zamboni came to our rescue.

My bounty of goodies was pretty sweet, and I hope Maximum PC returns to throw another party on the east coast!







The guys from http://www.laserwarez.com were sitting right behind me and were a couple of really cool guys. If you need any custom engraving I HIGHLY recommend their work, it looks amazing!


The CaseMod winner!


One of the many raffle prizes randomly given to attendees.

I will go to this event again.

NFORCE LAN Party 2008 in San Jose, CA

NForce LAN Video <–

This tutorial is as short as humanly possible.

• Download VirturalDub and unzip it to a folder on your desktop.

• Download Deshaker plugin and (after unzipping it) place it in the plugins folder in the VirturalDub folder.
• Run VirturalDub.exe as administrator.
• Click File > Open video file and select your clip.
• Click Video > Filters > Add > Deshaker > OK > Leave all the settings default and click OK twice.
• Click the 3rd button at the bottom.  It looks like a play triangle with the ZERO under it.
• Once the movie is finished return to Video > Filters > Double click Deshaker > select “Pass 2″ > click OK twice.
• File > Save as AVI.

O.K. that should do it, if you need more help I suggest you Google your error or problem.

This post is a perminent Lightbox test.  Plus the car is too sexy to delete.

Eating healthy is something I normally try to do on a regular basis. But am I really saving myself or my funds when I pick out a meal by using the nutrition facts sheet as a menu?

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