.: What’s Bruin :.

My new Dell 2407WFP 24″ LCD widsecreen flat panel monitor

This monitor is so cool. I can attach my USB mouse and thumb drive to it because it has two USB ports on the side. There are also two other media readers. One of them is a compact flash reader, from which I downloaded this picture to my PowerBook from my camera. And most of all, I love the high-quality picture and colors. In this shot I have two Word documents open at the same time both magnified at 150%. The resolution that my PowerBook supports on this is 1920 x 1200 px. I’m pretty sure that the monitor can go higher, but I will have to wait until I get a new Mac Pro or something like that.

Oh and yes, I still have my stupid Windows machine attached to this monitor also via a VGA cable.

Tags: 2407WFP, Apple, Computers, Dell, flat-panel, geek_stuff, LCD, monitor, PowerBook

I decided to backup all my data on my Windows computer. I actually turned on this computer earlier this evening because this chat software that we use on Blackboard did not work on Safari. (I found out through a classmate that the software will work fine on my Mac if I use Firefox.)

But anyways, in order to participate in the chat I subjected myself to using a PC. When I turned on the computer, it said that there was a hard drive failure. So I decided to reboot. It worked, but now I’m not taking any chances. I’m backing up all my old data, even stuff that I have not used in a couple of years like all the teaching files that I’ve accumulated over 11 years of that god-awful “profession”.

Fortunately, all the data fits on one DVD. Mission accomplished.

… It is your destiny.

Tags: Announcements, backup, Computers, data, geek_stuff, hard-drive

Last week I “tried” one of those new Apple iPods with video, a black 80GB model from Fry’s Electronics. On the first morning I was watching a vodcast from Mars Hill Church on the train. I got tired of holding the iPod to watch the video and just put it back in my shirt pocket and listened to the sermon instead. I returned the iPod the next day and removed my iPod Nano from eBay. I’m gonna stick with the regular iPod because if I don’t like holding the iPod to watch the video, then there’s no point to it right now for me.

Instead I decided to upgrade my monitor. Upon recommendaton from Mark, I ordered one of these from Dell. When it arrives, I’ll post pictures.

It did take some convincing on my part for Josephine to agree, but I think we’ll be able to manage. It should increase my productivity and enjoyment. Now I can bring the 19″ CRT monitor that I have to work to have the ability to view two documents on the screen simultaenously.

Tags: Apple, Computers, Dell, geek_stuff, iPod, LCD, monitor, widescreen

Pourpa needed a new printer for school this year. So I gave him my inexpensive Canon PIXMA 1600 that I had bought for $50 awhile back. To replace the color printer, I also bought another $50 printer at Fry’s, an Epson Stylus R320 photo printer. It’s my first foray into Epson printing. Someday I hope to get this one if I ever start printing high-quality photos. But for now, this refurbished one is just fine for me.

Tags: Announcements, Canon, Epson, geek_stuff, Photography, PIXMA, Pourpa, printer, quick_links

The box that housed my new Canon EOS 5D

Tags: camera, Canon, DSLR, geek_stuff, Photography

My PowerBook G4 is back, arriving earlier this morning. Thank you AppleCare. 1 GB RAM is back! I opened up Photoshop and a file and it appears that my machine is running at its normal speed.

Tags: Announcements, Apple, Computers, geek_stuff, memory, Photoshop, PowerBook, RAM, repairs, warranty

Bluetooth = wireless file transfer

Bluetooth + Verizon + Motorola V3c RAZR (S/W .03) = crippled gear so you have to pay Verizon to get ringtones, pics, and videos

What’s the point of Bluetooth on the phone if you can’t transfer files from a computer to your phone? Exactly. There is no point. So I did some “research” on the Web and found a couple of forum threads that attempt to “explain” how to Flash my Verizon RAZR phone from a software version .03 (crappy crippled Bluetooth) to version .02 (full Bluetooth-enabled with OBEX). But if you’ve ever read technical support forums before you already know that the people writing the technical tips don’t explain things very well. Additionally, you have to read through pages and pages of useless information before you find a couple of useful tidbits.

So this post will summarize the steps you need to follow in order to downgrade your Verizon Motorola V3c RAZR phone software from .03 to .02.

Equipment and software needed:

• Verizon Motorola V3c RAZR phone with .03 software
• Mini USB cable (you’ll need to download and install the necessary USB drivers - sorry I’m not writing a tutorial on that)
• PC (sorry, this flash procedure does not work on a Mac)
• Motorola RSD Lite v. 1.9.1 (you’ll have to register)
• GATW_X_01.0F.02P (this is the flash file)

Procedure to follow:

1. Install Motorola RSD Lite v. 1.9.1.
2. Unzip the flash file; be sure to note its location on your PC (recommend the desktop).
3. Connect your phone to the PC via the mini-USB cable.
4. Start the Motorola RSD Lite v. 1.9.1 software (if it does not recognize your phone automatically, then you probably did not install the correct USB drivers.
5. Browse for the flash file in the RSD software window that opens after you start it.
6. Click Start.
7. It takes about 15 minutes to finish; DO NOT UNPLUG the cable from the phone or turn it off.
8. Power off your phone when instructed to do so. (It will tell you to manually power up the phone.)
9. Power phone back on.
10. Activate and reprogram your phone with *228 (Option 1).
11. Pair your phone with your Bluetooth-enabled computer; it should work fully now with PCs and Macs - sorry pairing is another tutorial that I am not interested in writing.

I also found this page to be very helpful. Hope that helps and saves you time!

Tags: Bluetooth, cell_phones, Computers, file-transfer, flash, gatw_x_01.0f.02p, geek_stuff, Motorola, OBEX, RAZR, RSD-Lite, Verizon

After buying one of those new pink Motorola V3c RAZRs for Josephine, I could not resist. I splurged and decided to go back to using two separate devices and listed my Palm Treo 650 on eBay. I am now the proud owner of a gray RAZR. Such a deal with Verizon. Josephine’s RAZR was $39 while mine was $99. I would have gotten another one free for Pourpa’s phone, but his number was not eligible (since I used it to get the Treo a few months ago). As for the PDA, I’m going with the Palm Tungsten T5, which I have purchased on eBay.

Tags: cell_phones, geek_stuff, Josephine_Bruin, Motorola, Palm, RAZR, Tungsten-T5, Verizon

My parents are giving me moolah for my birthday to purchase Adobe Photoshop CS2, the software I’ve been using this semester at Palomar College in my photography class.

Tags: Announcements, birthday, geek_stuff, Photography, Photoshop, quick_links

I’m trying a 60-day free trial of .Mac. I’m not sure I would really use it. You can use the following features:

• Publish on the Web
• Store files on iDisk
• Photocasting
• Backup files
• Social networking Groups
• Email

The best one is the .mac web-based email because I can check it at work, where all web-based email account access is blocked by the network.

It might be worth the cost just for this capability. Currently, I have forwarded my Gmail there so I can check my personal mail. I can also access Cox email via POP since Cox does not allow forwarding of their mail automatically.

Tags: .Mac, Announcements, Apple, email, geek_stuff

This is a test of the WordPress feature to post a blog by sending an
email message. Hope it works.

Update: Obviously since I’m editing this here. It worked! Looks like if I use this feature, I will have to edit the post author, insert tags manually, and add/change the categories manually.

Tags: Blogging, email, geek_stuff, quick_links, WordPress

I read about this weblog editor from ranchero.com. So far it seems pretty easy to use. It’s a blend between WYSIWYG and hard coding in that I can see the codes being inserted, but I don’t need to type them in myself. I can preview the new post in a preview thingy.

So far I can’t really tell I figured out how to assign a category to this post, or whether or but I’m not sure I can assign tags that are compatible with the Ultimate Tag Warrior plugin.

I’ll try it for a bit and see how it goes.

Update: So far this is way better than Ecto. But I’m bummed that I have to add my tags manually back in the WordPress interface. And I think that if I re-edit a post that was previously created or edited in WordPress, the tags that are not also categories get erase if I publish the edited post via MarsEdit.

My initial impression after just a few minutes: I really like MarsEdit, but I dislike having to edit my tags manually. I would like to continue to use this blogging software, so maybe I will try editing my posts and then just adding the additional non-category tags later when I am fully satisfied with my writing and am sure that I won’t need to edit the post in MarsEdit anymore. Or if I feel that an older post needs more editing, I could just edit solely in the WordPress interface so that I won’t have to re-enter the tags that got erased.

Tags: Blogging, geek_stuff, MarsEdit, WordPress

My Safari Browser home page powered by Google

Do you have a Google custom home page? What’s on it?

Tags: geek_stuff, Google

New Intel Macs Scream, Jobs Says

Patience, my friend. In time, he will seek you out. And when he does, you must bring him before me . . .

Apple’s switch to using Intel’s dual core processors is already shaping up to be a providential, profound, and profitable move for the computer technology artist company. According to Steve Jobs, “These things are screamers.”

. . .the new machines are two to four times faster then the Macs they replace, which are based on PowerPC chips from IBM and Motorola.

Wired News: New Intel Macs Scream

Things must be cooking over there in Silicon Valley as the new iMac and MacBook pro are being released half a year ahead of schedule. Soon the transformation will be complete since “Apple will transition its entire product line before the end of the year, updating the hardware month by month.”

Although I’m not in the market for either of these two new beasts, I can’t wait to get both of them someday. By then they will be of the new iterations, sure to be even more powerful that you can imagine.

Tags: Apple, Computers, geek_stuff, Intel, technology

I never learn my lesson: BACKUP MY DATA. So I stumbled upon a Verizon Wireless specific Treo 650 update for my Palm smartphone. I thought I followed the instructions properly. The phone software upgraded to the latest version. But when I went to restore my data on the PDA, it was all gone.

I bumbled around my hard drive and my external hard drive, looking for some databases so I can restore my data. I found two dates, one in June and one in December. I think I’ve restored my data as recent as early December June, but I won’t know until it finishes this massively long Hot Sync. Thanks to Microsoft Entourage I had an archive of all my contacts through June. So now I’m missing only a few numbers. Thankfully, it’s much better than having zero contacts in the address book.

And this massively long Hot Sync is the reason why I switched off the automatic backups in the first place. So now I think I will have to at least turn the backups on the Hot Sync at least once a month for the next time that I don’t follow instructions during an upgrade.

Tags: cell_phones, geek_stuff, Palm, technology, Treo650