Monthly Archives: March 2009

Mar 11 2009
Technology

Open Source Project Night

The other day I was very productive, performing a network upgrade of my Ubuntu install to 8.10, and finally getting Handbrake to work.  Which is fantastic mainly because I have a PSP doing media duty and I didn’t necessarily want to make my MacBook Pro do all of the heavy lifting with the encoding work.  It was getting pretty warm.

Handbrake is a great app and the Ubuntu install shares the GUI with the Mac version so there wasn’t any time wasted in getting the settings the way that I wanted them.  Right now I’m just converting some files for the PSP, hopefully I’ll be able to catch up with some of my duties that I’ve been lax with.

Tagged
Mar 10 2009
Technology

Laptop is now lap friendly

I have a macbook pro that gets pretty hot.  Not as hot as Gabe’s, but hot enough that well, it’s uncomfortable to put it anywhere near my lap.

Even just web browsing it can get very warm.  So, in order to get past this, I looked online for any sort of utility to measure temperatures.

What I found instead was an app called smcFanControl.  I ran at the default settings and it reported that my machine was getting up to 140 degrees.  (Fahrenheit)

I upped the rpm to around 4000 and now it runs at a more lap friendly temperature of 100 degrees, and 40 degrees really does make a difference in comfort.  The machine overall even feels cooler, and although I know I’m losing fan lifecycles, I would much rather the machine ran cooler than it has been.

Tagged
Mar 09 2009
Technology

Gadgetry

There’s just too many gadgets in the collection.  I don’t know why I have every iteration of the gameboy, I just do.  There’s a Neo Geo pocket color in there too.  Then there are the three Nintendo DS handhelds.

Either way, it’s time for a culling.

Too many portable audio devices, too.  I just don’t know why.  At last count there were three variations of the iPod and a 30GB Zune.

Cameras, plural.  I don’t want to get into that.

Then there are the bits and bobs that go along with each.  Chargers, proprietary cables, cradles, adapters and they all add up into tons of electronic crap just laying around the house.

I have a core group of items that are definitely staying, but I really have to pare it down among the mass of spaghetti and screens.

Mar 08 2009
Games

Gimmicks make the game

Clips: Elevator Action Arcade Shooter Has Great Name, Even Better Gimmick.  I would love to see this game here in the states.

It’s a light gun game with an actual physical gimmick of the elevator doors closing in front of the arcade screen.  I’ve played gimmicky light gun games before, but this one pretty much takes the gimmick crown.

Tagged
Mar 07 2009
1 Comment
Uncategorized

Quiz time

And of course, by that, I am referring to a video quiz game, naturally. BUZZ! on the PS3, to be exact.  I picked up the game on a whim today, and it ended up being entirely too much fun in a group.  I do have fond memories of quiz games, due to my involvement in Academic League in high school.

What’s nice about the game is that although I do have some training in quick response and answering, it really only affects one of the rounds.  The other rounds even out the playing field, keeping it even and competitive for all players.

What I found while playing the game for about four hours, is that I enjoy the game not so much as a test of knowledge, but as a human behavioral observational experiment.

I enjoy playing it, but I enjoy watching other people play it as well.  There are bits of personality that become apparent in a competitive environment.  I really passed on playing a lot of times just so I could see how matches played out from round to round.

Barring that, it’s actually a really good game, and the fact that the buzzer peripherals are included in the purchase price, makes the game well worth it.

← Older posts
Newer posts →