Wednesday, December 29, 2004

Golden Gate Bridge Jumpers...

The New Yorker: Fact has a great article called "Jumpers: The Fatal Grandeur of the Golden Gate Bridge". It's a fascinating article.

Source: Tinyapps Blog

Portable CE...

Steve Makofsky figured out a way to run Windows CE from a flash drive. Believe it or not,the emulator uses less than 20MB.

New way of browsing news....

Newsmap: The bigger the square, the bigger the story.

Source: Scobleizer: Microsoft Geek Blogger

Friday, December 24, 2004

Merry Christmas!

Amy and I are visiting her family and I haven't had any time to blog, but I did want to wish all off you a very wonderful holiday season.

Monday, December 20, 2004

Friday, December 17, 2004

This is the MP3 player for me...

I've decided on the SanDisk Digital Audio Player. For me, the features I had to have were:

  • At least 256MB flash memory
  • Mountable as a USB drive
  • USB 2.0
  • FM tuner
  • LCD display
  • Cheap
  • Good Brand
There's much more information in the manual. These are available in 256MB, 512MB and 1GB versions. Right now, I'm leaning toward the 256MB version, because it's the cheapest...

Wednesday, December 15, 2004

ClamperPod...

This is the coolest camera accessory I've seen in a while. It's called the ClamperPod. I first noticed in a review at The Gadgeteer. It might be too late for Christmas, but it will make a great gift for the photographer in your life.

If you'd prefer a more normal mini-tripod, check out the reviews at The Gadgeteer or at MiniTripods.com

Build Your Own Windows Media Center PC...

I have a couple of friends who have built their own. My bet is, that given enough disposable income, you can build one too.

Tuesday, December 14, 2004

Seasonal car decorations...

Do you decorate your car for Christmas? I know some of you put a bow or wreath on the front end. I've also seen cars decorated for Halloween, with a hand sticking out from a closed door or trunklid. If you're one of those people, please leave a comment that says why you think that is a good idea.

Maybe we can all learn a little something...

Sunday, December 12, 2004

First Usenet post...

I was just searching for old Usenet posts and I noticed that I first posted to Usenet 10 years ago. I hoped that it would be something intelligent or funny but it was a test post. Damn.

Micro Solutions RoadStor...

Micro Solutions has been around for years. You might remember the Backpack line of external drives. They recently brought out the RoadStor drive, which performs the following functions:
  • Photo to CD Burner
  • Digital Photo Viewer
  • DVD Player
Burn copies of your digital photos to a CD to share with family & friends on the spot! Then view your digital photos on a TV, monitor or projector! No computer needed – just insert a CD, then your memory card and push a button. Your pictures are copied to CD in an instant. RoadStor is also a portable DVD player. Attach to the A/V input on a TV and watch a movie! Or plug in headphones or speakers to listen to audio CDs or MP3s. Connect to a PC or MAC and use it as an external, shareable CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive. All cables and software is included. Runs on a rechargeable Li battery.

InAnyCase...

InAnyCase.com sells battery and memory card cases. These are great for digital camera owners, but these products have a much wider audience. Be sure and check out the Batuca battery cases.

Jones Soda...

Recently, I have been enjoying Jones Soda. I first discovered their Blue Bubblegum Soda about 4-5 years ago. Jones Soda was very hard to find back then, but now that's not the case anymore. The second flavor I tried recently was Berry Lemonade.

Saturday, December 11, 2004

TheOpenCD...

TheOpenCD is a collection of high quality Free and Open Source Software. The programs run in Windows and cover the most common tasks such as word processing, presentations, e-mail, web browsing, web design, and image manipulation.

Sunrise in Round Rock...


The other day, I walked out of our front door and saw this. I went back in the house and grabbed my camera and took this shot. I reduced it to 320x240 from its original 1280x960, but otherwise it's untouched.

Unclaimed Baggage Center...

Amy and I are going to be in Fort Payne, Alabama for Christmas, so I can't wait to go to the Unclaimed Baggage Center. I've never been, but it's only about 40 miles away and should be a hoot (or maybe a hoot and a half).

Alienware DHD Media Centers...


The Alienware DHD media center PC combines 7 entertainment functions in one.
  • TV: 30" TFT widescreen LCD panel with a 176° viewing ratio.
  • PVR: Record, pause and playback live TV with the built in personal video recorder (PVR) that works similar to a TiVo® and allows you to record up to 235 hours of TV.
  • CD Jukebox: Create your own digital library by recording, storing and burning up to 5000 CDs.
  • VOD: Download on-demand movies and music from CinemaNow, Movielink and Napster.
  • Gaming Console: The Alienware DHD plays thousands of PC games.
  • Computer: Work on your spreadsheet, email, chat, surf the web and perform all of the other tasks you would normally do on a home PC.
  • Photo Album: Store thousands of digital pictures and create slideshows of your favorite vacation and even add music.
If you haven't figured out what this is, it's a Windows XP Media Center Edition PC inside a 30" LCD.

Thursday, December 09, 2004

How I'm using Bloglines...

If you want you can view my public subscriptions on the Bloglines web site at http://www.bloglines.com/public/eschulz

It is also providing the links on the right above the 'I power Blogger' button.

Bloglines - RSS ...

Bloglines is the most comprehensive, integrated service for searching, subscribing, publishing and sharing news feeds, blogs, and rich Web content. It's free and easy-to-use.

Monday, December 06, 2004

Bathroom right of way...

It has always been my opinion that the person entering the bathroom should have the right of way over the person leaving. What I've noticed lately, though, is I expect to be given the right of way whichever way I might be headed.

Now that I've identified the problem, I might start looking for a support group.

Friday, December 03, 2004

If you can't see me in my mirrors, I can't see you.

This is a stupid sticker that you see on the back of tractor trailer rigs all the time. It's untrue. What the sticker implies is that if I can't see the truck driver in his mirror, he can't see my car. That's not the case, it only means that he can't see my eyes. My truck is a considerably larger target for him to focus on. If he can't see me, it's not my problem. If he can't see the traffic around him, then he should invest in a rear facing-camera or adequate mirrors, or he shouldn't be driving. My Dodge Ram is large, but if a Miata is traveling in my blind spot and I change lanes and drive over him, it's my fault. It would be my fault even if I had a sticker on the right rear fender that said "You are traveling in my blind spot". Now, if the purpose of the sticker is not to relieve the driver or company of liability, then what's the point ? If it's just to remind users that they may be traveling in a dangerous spot, simply put "You are traveling in my blind spot. Please be extra cautious".

Just walk out

For about 6 months in 2003, I carried a cheap Kyocera cell phone from Virgin Mobile. Often, when I would leave stores, the security system would sound an alarm. The first couple of times it happened, I was surprised and walked back and looked for someone to talk to. After that, I would just ignore it and walk out. This happened 20-30 times over the course of that time and what shocked me was that nobody ever came after me. I hoped that they would. I had actually rehearsed what I would say. What is the point of having this level of security, if it isn't used ?

Fry's security can be avoided (Secret: Don't tell anyone)

Let me preface this post with this: I love Fry's. I like almost everything about it except for one thing: When you leave the store, they have people that check your receipt against what is in your bag. I don't understand the reason for this. If I were going to shoplift, the item I would be walking out with would still be in my pocket. My theory is that it is to check on their employees. There is an opportunity for dishonesty or negligence there. That's what I think they're checking for. I read a couple of years ago that stores had no right to do this. I'm not sure of the legal ramification, but I have simply been ignoring the reverse greeters as I leave. There will be two or three of them there, with no customers and I'll just walk out. It's very liberating. It seems like I'm getting away with something, or that I have single-handedly found the flaw in their impervious wall of security.

Necessary MP3 features...

My new MP3 player must be capable of voice recording. I don't have a problem thinking of things to discuss (except at the keyboard). The N200 which I mentioned earlier supports voice and also FM and line-in recording. With this capability, I can just record and encode MP3 files from any audio source without the need for a PC. On trips, I can take this and my portable DVD player and dump new CD's into the player.

Rejected names for this post...

Let's hear it for apathy!!!
Aluminum foil underpants
Breezin' in the off-season

Bush seeks vote on intelligence bill next week...

I figured he'd be against this. Didn't you ?

Thursday, December 02, 2004

Let's see what MSN Spaces has to offer...

It does support Categories, which Blogger doesn't. That is something I've wanted. Hopefully, Blogger will step up to the plate and add that soon. It also supports photos. I have a couple of ways to work around that limitation currently.

Feel free to take a look at Does the fun ever start ? (MSN Version)

Wednesday, December 01, 2004

Leave me a voice mail...

Last night, I signed up for jConnect Free™. I heard about it on the Escape From the World! podcast. My jConnect number is (763)322-1842. Use this number to send me faxes or to leave me voicemail and I will receive each in my email inbox as attachments.

Please feel free to leave me audio comments at that number. I might just post some of them.