Brandon's Blog » computers

Dear Big Media.

Brandon — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 19:12:48 +0000

This is a perfect example on how you stop piracy. You sell us content with no restrictions (DRM). You be polite and you do not attack you own customers. Watch the video and take notes.

Ubuntu 11.10 Released!

Brandon — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 14:04:57 +0000

It is finally here! And the new features look great. Check out the video by OMG! Ubuntu that highlights some of the improvements.

I know what I will be doing with my evening!
Read OMG! Ubuntu’s post about the release.

Linux Turns 20 Years Old!

Brandon — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 04:38:04 +0000

This year the Linux Operating System turned 20. Here is a video with the details.

My Christmas Present: The Roku XR

Brandon — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 05:28:28 +0000

I have been a Netflix subscriber for some time now. I have the plan where I get 3 DVDs at a time, unlimited DVDs a month and unlimited Instant Play. I love the DVDs by mail but I was not taking advantage of the Instant Play. For those of you who don’t know Instant Play is a service Netflix offers that allows you to stream movies over the Internet instantly to your computer or a device that supports this service.

I could easily sit in my chair and watch the movies on our Macbook. The problem is what if I wanted to watch a movie with my family or friends? We couldn’t all huddle around the Macbook’s 15″ display. I wanted the movies streamed to the living room tv. Before some of you get ahead of me I know very well I could use a computer to stream these movies to my tv and I happen to have a late model dell that would do it well. But, I do not have a new tv with a PC/RGB input. Our tv is a 27″ CRT with composite and component inputs. We have bought our first house this year and have had our first child so more important things need to be purchased before a $500 televison.

However, I wanted to take advantage of the streaming movies so I put the Roku XR in my amazon.com wish-list. A $129.00 device that can save you money on entertainment is a justifiable purchase to us. More so than a $500 tv.

The Roku XR is small and has component, composite, s-video and HDMI outputs. So when we finally get that glorious HD TV the Roku will be ready for it. The XR has 802.11n networking so when the day comes that I can upgrade the trusty Linksys WRT54G to an N-router of some sort it will be ready for that as well. I have an 8Mb download speed from my Internet Service Provider so the movies are of quality resolution and play smoothly. I like the additional channels that are available through the device such as Revision3 and Twit. I am sure the few channels they have are just the beginning of what is to come.

I give the device two thumbs up. It works, gets the job done, low power consumption (6 watts) and it’s small form factor is a big plus. Need a Netflix device? Check out the Roku.

Numb3rs describes IRC

Brandon — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 18:34:30 +0000

Numb3rs describes the Internet Relay Chat protocol, a “pretty primitive chat program”. It’s how hackers talk when they don’t want to be overheard. :P

Thanks to @hak5darren for posting this on twitter.
Thanks to mircea2s for posting it on YouTube.

Robot festival in Tokyo

Brandon — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 05:05:43 +0000

An international robot exhibition in Tokyo showcases the changing face of robotics.

Full Reuters News Story here.

Google Chrome OS Demo.

Brandon — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:59:02 +0000

Google Chrome OS is an open source operating system for people who spend most of their time on the web built around the core tenets of speed, simplicity and security. This is a demo video to give you a feel for the Google Chrome OS user experience.