If you like to share things on the net, but don't want to have to send links to different services to all your friends, FriendFeed is the site for you. It can take information from 43 different services, including Twitter, Digg, Google Reader, YouTube, and even personal blogs, and display it on one page. You can set what services get shared, and if you share them with everybody, or just your friends. You can view all of your friends feeds on one page, and yo ucan also see what everybody is posting. As long as a feed is made public, you can view it and comment on anything thats posted. It's a great way to get all of your stuff in one place.
I've been using it for about a month now (view my feed here), and it's great. So far nobody I know has setup a feed, but I have found a couple interesting ones to follow, and I always find interesting stuff by looking at what everybody is posting. It's kind of like Digg, except that it does alot more than sharing webpages!
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Monday, July 14, 2008
Software Review - VirtuaWin
I spend a lot of time on the internet, both at home and at work. At work I'm mainly on it looking up solutions to problems, or finding out information about new software and products. At home I'm on it for fun, looking for random pages that I can enjoy. No matter where I surf the net from though, there are always three blogs that I check religiously; Gizmodo, IO9 and Lifehacker. Gizmodo is a gadget new blog, but also features other geek related news. IO9 is a sci-fi blog that covers anything related to sci-fi news. Lifehacker is a blog to help improve your life through different methods, including health tips, general how-to's and more importantly software to help make using computers easier and more fun. Most of my new software comes from articles I've read at Lifehacker, and they've even lead to a few other web-pages that I get some from also.
I was looking at some articles on Lifehacker one day and I came across an article on VirtuaWin (here). I always have multiple windows open on whatever computer I'm using, so I decided to try it out. I have been using it ever since that day, and I love it!
VirtuaWin is a virtual desktop application. It creates upto 20 separate virtual desktops. On each desktop you can have different windows open so you can organize your windows into categories, and view then separately. For example; at work I always have Outlook, Firefox, MSN Messenger, ICQ, WMP, and upto 3 different work related programs. One one desktop, the taskbar gets very cluttered and hard to find what I'm looking for. With VirtuaWin I now have one desktop for Outlook, one for Firefox, one for MSN and ICQ, one for each work program, and one for WMP, with my music list. So I can have all my programs open and maximized, without taking up tons of room on the task manager.
VirtuaWin's main control is in the taskbars notification area. Depending on how many virtual desktops you are using, it either shows up with the number of the current desktop, or a square divided into either 2 or 4, and an indication of which desktop your viewing. Double clicking on that icon brings up the setup menu, where you can customize it to what you prefer. You can control how many virtual desktops are available, and how many rows and columns they appear in by changing the X wide and X deep numbers. I find that 9 virtual desktops are adequate for my needs, and I have them setup in a 3x3 configuration. You can change that to one long line if you wish, or any other combination. That configuration defines how you will navigate through the desktops. When you first start up VirtuaWin, you need to navigate through the different desktops either using hotkeys (which can be configured in the setup menu) or right clicking on the VirtuaWin icon in the taskbar and clicking next or previous.
Once you have some windows open in different desktops, you can now use the window list to jump straight to any window in any desktop. To access the list, by default left click on the icon in the taskbar, or setup a custom hotkey for it (I have a hotkey setup for it, and have mapped the search button on my mouse to that hotkey, so I can get the list right from my mouse). The windows list has three section: Switch To, which will switch to a window in a certain desktop when clicked; Move Here, which will move any window from any desktop to the current desktop; and Always Show, which will make the selected window appear on every desktop (handy for IM conversations).
So far I havn't run into any major bugs or annoyances with VirtuaWin, although there are a few minor annoyances I've run into. I recently joined iLike and added the iLike bar to WMP. For some reason, this automatically shows up on every desktop, even though WMP doesn't. I've solved this by putting WMP to the very edge of the screen, so I can't see the iLike bar. Also, when loading up a program, you have to make sure you stay on the desktop you wish it to be on until it is fully loaded for it to stay on that desktop. A couple of programs will move desktops on me if I change to a different desktop while it is still loading, so I've had to learn to be a little bit more patient when programs load.
Overall I give this software 9 out of 10. You can learn more about VirtuaWin, and download a copy from their page here. Or, if your like me and you use different computers throughout the day, you can also get a portable version from here. Full installation instructions can be found on the page. It works exactly like the main version, but it's small enough to fit onto a USB key. Very handy!
Well, there it is, my first software review. I hope you liked it. PLease leave comments below if you found it helpful, or if you have any comments on the software. Also, leave any suggestions you might have if you thought this needed any improvments. At first I was going to try to do one review a day, but now that I have finished my first one, I think I'm going to start off a little slower, and maybe only do a couple a week and see how that goes.
I was looking at some articles on Lifehacker one day and I came across an article on VirtuaWin (here). I always have multiple windows open on whatever computer I'm using, so I decided to try it out. I have been using it ever since that day, and I love it!
VirtuaWin is a virtual desktop application. It creates upto 20 separate virtual desktops. On each desktop you can have different windows open so you can organize your windows into categories, and view then separately. For example; at work I always have Outlook, Firefox, MSN Messenger, ICQ, WMP, and upto 3 different work related programs. One one desktop, the taskbar gets very cluttered and hard to find what I'm looking for. With VirtuaWin I now have one desktop for Outlook, one for Firefox, one for MSN and ICQ, one for each work program, and one for WMP, with my music list. So I can have all my programs open and maximized, without taking up tons of room on the task manager.
VirtuaWin's main control is in the taskbars notification area. Depending on how many virtual desktops you are using, it either shows up with the number of the current desktop, or a square divided into either 2 or 4, and an indication of which desktop your viewing. Double clicking on that icon brings up the setup menu, where you can customize it to what you prefer. You can control how many virtual desktops are available, and how many rows and columns they appear in by changing the X wide and X deep numbers. I find that 9 virtual desktops are adequate for my needs, and I have them setup in a 3x3 configuration. You can change that to one long line if you wish, or any other combination. That configuration defines how you will navigate through the desktops. When you first start up VirtuaWin, you need to navigate through the different desktops either using hotkeys (which can be configured in the setup menu) or right clicking on the VirtuaWin icon in the taskbar and clicking next or previous.
Once you have some windows open in different desktops, you can now use the window list to jump straight to any window in any desktop. To access the list, by default left click on the icon in the taskbar, or setup a custom hotkey for it (I have a hotkey setup for it, and have mapped the search button on my mouse to that hotkey, so I can get the list right from my mouse). The windows list has three section: Switch To, which will switch to a window in a certain desktop when clicked; Move Here, which will move any window from any desktop to the current desktop; and Always Show, which will make the selected window appear on every desktop (handy for IM conversations).
So far I havn't run into any major bugs or annoyances with VirtuaWin, although there are a few minor annoyances I've run into. I recently joined iLike and added the iLike bar to WMP. For some reason, this automatically shows up on every desktop, even though WMP doesn't. I've solved this by putting WMP to the very edge of the screen, so I can't see the iLike bar. Also, when loading up a program, you have to make sure you stay on the desktop you wish it to be on until it is fully loaded for it to stay on that desktop. A couple of programs will move desktops on me if I change to a different desktop while it is still loading, so I've had to learn to be a little bit more patient when programs load.
Overall I give this software 9 out of 10. You can learn more about VirtuaWin, and download a copy from their page here. Or, if your like me and you use different computers throughout the day, you can also get a portable version from here. Full installation instructions can be found on the page. It works exactly like the main version, but it's small enough to fit onto a USB key. Very handy!
Well, there it is, my first software review. I hope you liked it. PLease leave comments below if you found it helpful, or if you have any comments on the software. Also, leave any suggestions you might have if you thought this needed any improvments. At first I was going to try to do one review a day, but now that I have finished my first one, I think I'm going to start off a little slower, and maybe only do a couple a week and see how that goes.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Time for a change
Well, it's been over 3 months since my last post. It's not that nothing has been going on in those three months, it's just that I haven't really wanted to sit down and write about it. That's why I've decided to change the reason for this blog. Instead of it mainly being about the things I do, I'm going to try to make it a review blog. Lately I've been trying out lots of new software, and I've decided that I want to start writing reviews for them. So I'm going to try to write a review a day on a new piece of software I'm using, or of a new site that I've discovered, or even new gadgets that I get.
I've been finding some new sites the past couple of days, and one of them is Tumblr. It's basically another blog, but meant for shorter posts, and also allows posting of other items easily (like images, links, quotes, audio clips and videos). So I'm going to try to use that for my random stories and updates on myself instead of posting them here. Check it out at http://mindfreak66.tumblr.com. Hopefully I will keep it more up to date than this one has been.
I'm working on my first review post right now, but I don't think I'll get it up until Sunday.
Have a great weekend.
I've been finding some new sites the past couple of days, and one of them is Tumblr. It's basically another blog, but meant for shorter posts, and also allows posting of other items easily (like images, links, quotes, audio clips and videos). So I'm going to try to use that for my random stories and updates on myself instead of posting them here. Check it out at http://mindfreak66.tumblr.com. Hopefully I will keep it more up to date than this one has been.
I'm working on my first review post right now, but I don't think I'll get it up until Sunday.
Have a great weekend.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Cat Hotel
Amanda and I have opened up a cat hotel in our bathroom. It wasn't really something we decided to do, it just happened. We decided to take the stairs down, and go for a walk. When we got to the 9th floor, there was a cat sitting on the steps. We couldn't just leave it there, so we brought it to the apartment, and called the super. Apparently this type of thing happens often. Tenants decide they don't want their cat anymore, so they put them in the stairwells. That means that more likely than not, this cat isn't wanted. The super couldn't do anything tonight, but he's going to see what he can do by the morning. I'm thinking that means that he's going to see if he can get somebody to take it to the pound. So we're going to be keeping the cat overnight. We don't want it running around the apartment with Pixie, so we're keeping it in the bathroom for now. Amanda took a look at it, and it's a male and she figures it's around 1 year old. It doesn't look like it's been fixed, so we're assuming that it doesn't have any shots either.
At first Pixie didn't seem to know what was going on, but now she's staying outside of the bathroom door, wondering who is in there. I don't know whats going to happen to it, but if anybody wants a free cat, just gimme a call!
==UPDATE==
So the super came up this morning and took the cat away. Apparently there is a lady in the building that takes in cats and looks for a home for them. We let the cat run around this morning, and he and Pixie seemed to get along. Pixie followed him everywhere he went, but didn't trey fighting him. We're glad that he's gone to a good place, and not to the pound.
At first Pixie didn't seem to know what was going on, but now she's staying outside of the bathroom door, wondering who is in there. I don't know whats going to happen to it, but if anybody wants a free cat, just gimme a call!
==UPDATE==
So the super came up this morning and took the cat away. Apparently there is a lady in the building that takes in cats and looks for a home for them. We let the cat run around this morning, and he and Pixie seemed to get along. Pixie followed him everywhere he went, but didn't trey fighting him. We're glad that he's gone to a good place, and not to the pound.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
The evolution of Buddy's cage
I've had Buddy since May 27 2007. Since then he has lived in 4 different 'cages', and he has just moved into his fifth! Heres what he's lived in:
When we first picked him up, he was in a small plastic container, about the size of a hamburger container. He was only in it until we got home. Then he upgraded to a small plastic fish tank about 10" wide by 7" deep and 8" tall. He stayed in that for a few days, until Amanda was able to grab a moth holder from the lab. It was about a 1' cube, covered in mesh with a velcro opening. It was a good sized cage for him, but only for a little while. I liked the width and depth of it, but it needed to be taller. Chameleons are arboreal, so they like to be up high.Ideally chameleon cages should be above eye level, and his 1' cube was below eye level. Amanda offered to build a new cage for him at the lab. We bought the materials, and she built his next cage. It was still 1' wide and 1' deep, but was 25" tall. This seemed to be a good size for him. It was tall enough that he could climb to the top to be above everything, but wasn't too big that he would get lost in it.
He's been in that cage since Jul of last year, so I decided it was time to upgrade him again. This time I decided to go really big, and use the 175 gallon Flexarium that I bought when I got him. This one is 30" wide by 30" deep by 4' tall. Upgrading his cage this time was harder than before. Because he was moving to such a large cage form such a small one, I needed to get alot more stuff for him. First thing I needed was a a tree for him. He has a plant already, but he needed something taller and bigger. He also needed some new vines, fake leaves, and I decided to get some substrate for the bottom of the new cage, and a water dripping system. I of course didn't realize that I needed this stuff until after I had set up the cage, and put in all of the stuff from his old cage. So Amanda and I headed out to Wal-Mart last night to see what we could pick up. We looked at the plants, but they didn't have any good trees, but we picked up a nice little plant that hopefully will grow bigger. It's not the best, but it'll do until we can get something better. We then went to Petsmart to look for the rest of the stuff. We picked up some substrate, some vines, and we also got a parrot ladder (it's a good way for him to travel from the top to the bottom of his cage). I picked the rest of the stuff up today, and his new cage is fully set up (apart from a tree).
Here's what it looks like;
When we first picked him up, he was in a small plastic container, about the size of a hamburger container. He was only in it until we got home. Then he upgraded to a small plastic fish tank about 10" wide by 7" deep and 8" tall. He stayed in that for a few days, until Amanda was able to grab a moth holder from the lab. It was about a 1' cube, covered in mesh with a velcro opening. It was a good sized cage for him, but only for a little while. I liked the width and depth of it, but it needed to be taller. Chameleons are arboreal, so they like to be up high.Ideally chameleon cages should be above eye level, and his 1' cube was below eye level. Amanda offered to build a new cage for him at the lab. We bought the materials, and she built his next cage. It was still 1' wide and 1' deep, but was 25" tall. This seemed to be a good size for him. It was tall enough that he could climb to the top to be above everything, but wasn't too big that he would get lost in it.
He's been in that cage since Jul of last year, so I decided it was time to upgrade him again. This time I decided to go really big, and use the 175 gallon Flexarium that I bought when I got him. This one is 30" wide by 30" deep by 4' tall. Upgrading his cage this time was harder than before. Because he was moving to such a large cage form such a small one, I needed to get alot more stuff for him. First thing I needed was a a tree for him. He has a plant already, but he needed something taller and bigger. He also needed some new vines, fake leaves, and I decided to get some substrate for the bottom of the new cage, and a water dripping system. I of course didn't realize that I needed this stuff until after I had set up the cage, and put in all of the stuff from his old cage. So Amanda and I headed out to Wal-Mart last night to see what we could pick up. We looked at the plants, but they didn't have any good trees, but we picked up a nice little plant that hopefully will grow bigger. It's not the best, but it'll do until we can get something better. We then went to Petsmart to look for the rest of the stuff. We picked up some substrate, some vines, and we also got a parrot ladder (it's a good way for him to travel from the top to the bottom of his cage). I picked the rest of the stuff up today, and his new cage is fully set up (apart from a tree).
Here's what it looks like;
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Crazy laundry lady
So I know it's been awhile since I've written anything (I'm working on an update post this week while off of work), but I just had to write about this!
So I'm on my week off of work, and I decided to do laundry today. So I head down to the laundry room in the basement, and as I suspected, Wednesdays are a good day to do laundry, there's only the first two machines being used. I head to the last set of machines, and use 5 of them. I head back down after the 26 minute wash cycle is complete expecting there to be no-one down there. To my surprise theres an old lady there, standing by the washing machines I'm using. She's just standing there, with a cart full of laundry. The machines I'm using are the only ones in use, so there were about 6 free machines at the front of the room, but she seems to be waiting for these machines. So I start taking the clothes out of the machine farthest from her and transferring them to the dryers. It felt like she was watching me the entire time. When I had emptied the first three machines, she moved over to the sink next to the first machine I was using and filled a spray bottle with water and got out a sponge. Then she just stayed at the sink and continued to watch me transfer clothes. When I had finished, and started loading the dryers with money, she moved to the last machine and started cleaning it out with the sponge and spray bottle. It was by far one of the most awkward times I've ever had doing laundry, and that includes the times I had to study people in laundromats for a sociology project in university! I've got about 15 minutes until I have to go back down there to get the laundry, and I hope that she's not there waiting for the dryers that I'm using!
==UPDATE==
So it turns out I underestimated the craziness of the crazy laundry lady, who I am now officially renaming the f#@*ing insane laundry lady! Apparently she can only use the last few machines in the laundry room, cause she waited for 35 minutes to use the machines that I was using, while there were 5 free machines! She had her washing machines open, and ready to go, but she was just standing there, watching me empty her precious dryers, waiting until I had closed the door on the last machine so she could start her drying. I wouldn't be surprised if half of her laundry was already dry from her waiting for her dryers to be free!! I guess I just don't understand some people.
So I'm on my week off of work, and I decided to do laundry today. So I head down to the laundry room in the basement, and as I suspected, Wednesdays are a good day to do laundry, there's only the first two machines being used. I head to the last set of machines, and use 5 of them. I head back down after the 26 minute wash cycle is complete expecting there to be no-one down there. To my surprise theres an old lady there, standing by the washing machines I'm using. She's just standing there, with a cart full of laundry. The machines I'm using are the only ones in use, so there were about 6 free machines at the front of the room, but she seems to be waiting for these machines. So I start taking the clothes out of the machine farthest from her and transferring them to the dryers. It felt like she was watching me the entire time. When I had emptied the first three machines, she moved over to the sink next to the first machine I was using and filled a spray bottle with water and got out a sponge. Then she just stayed at the sink and continued to watch me transfer clothes. When I had finished, and started loading the dryers with money, she moved to the last machine and started cleaning it out with the sponge and spray bottle. It was by far one of the most awkward times I've ever had doing laundry, and that includes the times I had to study people in laundromats for a sociology project in university! I've got about 15 minutes until I have to go back down there to get the laundry, and I hope that she's not there waiting for the dryers that I'm using!
==UPDATE==
So it turns out I underestimated the craziness of the crazy laundry lady, who I am now officially renaming the f#@*ing insane laundry lady! Apparently she can only use the last few machines in the laundry room, cause she waited for 35 minutes to use the machines that I was using, while there were 5 free machines! She had her washing machines open, and ready to go, but she was just standing there, watching me empty her precious dryers, waiting until I had closed the door on the last machine so she could start her drying. I wouldn't be surprised if half of her laundry was already dry from her waiting for her dryers to be free!! I guess I just don't understand some people.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Why Wal-Mart is awesome
I've never really been a big fan of Wal-Mart. Sure, some of their prices are better than anywhere else, and you can get pretty much whatever you need there, but I still never really liked the place. It's always really busy in there, and none of the staff are really that helpful (although occasionally you can get lucky and find someone that actually wants to help you). Today though, I have a new reason to like Wal-Mart; their customer service desk.
So for Christmas Amanda bought me the first season of Heroes, but she didn't realize that it was on HD-DVD. Unfortunately she bought it at Music World's going out of business sale, so it wasn't returnable. I was thinking about getting an HD-DVD player, but that idea quickly went away when I saw the price of them. Then somebody suggested trying to return it to Wal-Mart, and see if they would exchange it for the regular DVD version. I decided to give it a try, so I headed over to there and went up to the customer service counter. They told me that yes I could (even though I had already opened it up, and didn't have a receipt for it) and to grab a copy of the regular version and bing it back to them. I went to the DVD section, but couldn't find it anywhere. I tried two more stores, but it was the same thing there.
I decided to leave it for a couple weeks to see if they would get any stock in. So today I went there, and decided to look and see if they had any in stock before going to the counter. To my luck, they had a bunch there, so I grabbed one and headed to the counter. I got the same person that served me last time I was there, and they actually remembered me!! I told them that Amanda had bought it for me a couple weeks before and didn't realize that it was an HD-DVD (which is the truth, except that it wasn't bought at Wal-Mart), and that I would like to exchange it for the regular version. They said that it would be no problem, and they scanned the HD version, then the regular version, and asked if I wanted the balance on a gift card. I was shocked enough that they were actually going to exchange it, but even more shocked to find out they were going to give $43 also! There were absolutely no questions asked about it! I've heard stories like this before, but didn't think that they were actually like that! So now I have my Heroes DVDs (which Amanda and I are currently watching!) and $43 to spend at Wal-Mart! I'm thinking I'll probably use it for a Wii game, but maybe I'll find something else instead.
So if you have something that you bought somewhere, and you need to return it, but for some reason you can't return it to the same place you got it from, then I suggest you try Wal-Mart! It worked for me!!
So for Christmas Amanda bought me the first season of Heroes, but she didn't realize that it was on HD-DVD. Unfortunately she bought it at Music World's going out of business sale, so it wasn't returnable. I was thinking about getting an HD-DVD player, but that idea quickly went away when I saw the price of them. Then somebody suggested trying to return it to Wal-Mart, and see if they would exchange it for the regular DVD version. I decided to give it a try, so I headed over to there and went up to the customer service counter. They told me that yes I could (even though I had already opened it up, and didn't have a receipt for it) and to grab a copy of the regular version and bing it back to them. I went to the DVD section, but couldn't find it anywhere. I tried two more stores, but it was the same thing there.
I decided to leave it for a couple weeks to see if they would get any stock in. So today I went there, and decided to look and see if they had any in stock before going to the counter. To my luck, they had a bunch there, so I grabbed one and headed to the counter. I got the same person that served me last time I was there, and they actually remembered me!! I told them that Amanda had bought it for me a couple weeks before and didn't realize that it was an HD-DVD (which is the truth, except that it wasn't bought at Wal-Mart), and that I would like to exchange it for the regular version. They said that it would be no problem, and they scanned the HD version, then the regular version, and asked if I wanted the balance on a gift card. I was shocked enough that they were actually going to exchange it, but even more shocked to find out they were going to give $43 also! There were absolutely no questions asked about it! I've heard stories like this before, but didn't think that they were actually like that! So now I have my Heroes DVDs (which Amanda and I are currently watching!) and $43 to spend at Wal-Mart! I'm thinking I'll probably use it for a Wii game, but maybe I'll find something else instead.
So if you have something that you bought somewhere, and you need to return it, but for some reason you can't return it to the same place you got it from, then I suggest you try Wal-Mart! It worked for me!!
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