Category: Geeky

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Setting the Max Volume On iPods

Apple released an update for iPods this week that offers support to users to set the maximum listening volume. This comes on the heels on warnings and reports regarding a potential connection to hearing loss attributed to people listening to their iPods at high volumes. MacNewsWorld has an interesting article about it.

People have been blasting their ears with loud music for years, starting with the Princess Leia headphones of the 70’s. I’ve been an advocate for taking ear plugs to rock shows for this specific reason. I want to be rocking out to music until the day I die, doing my best to not blow my ear drums out until that time.

Download the update here.

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Apple GUI Over the Past 30 Years

Wired.com is running this page of screen shots from various Apple systems from over the years.  This is all for the 30th anniversary of Apple Computer coming up the 1st of April.  Some of this will snap you back in your memories.  I know it did for me.

My family was one of the first to have a personal computer at home.  Apples were always apart of that.  In fact, it was about the mid-90’s that I can first recall dealing with Windows, and I was frustrated to no end.  DOS what?  Colon, back slash, who?

Boot disks.  RAM disks.  The sound of floppy drives.  Now I want to watch WarGames.

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Northwest From SXSW

I’ve only been to SXSW once, but it made me believe that there was an actual reason to go to Texas. And it is true what they say. “Don’t mess with Texas.” That’s not a clever bumper sticker. It’s a word to the wise.

We got the university to set us college radio kids up in a fairly swanky hotel for a few days. I saw a bunch of shows around the downtown area of Austin. It was like discovering rock and roll all over again. All sorts of great venues, people with a true love for live music, and easy going crowds. It’s where I saw Shiner twice in one day. They Might Be Giants, Clinic, Lo Fidelity All-Stars, Girls Against Boys, and one of the last performances by The Promise Ring, just to name a few.

Now SXSW is turning into something even greater than just a music and film festival. It’s attaching all this fun technology, geek stuff that seems to be growing year by year. I’ve moved to an amazing city with everything SXSW has to offer on a day to day basis, but there is just something about Austin that makes me want to go there again and again.

Next year, man. Next year.

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Living Through the Weekend Hangover

Making my coffee and oatmeal this morning, Bill sent me a link to a story about creating your very own popcorn popper coffee roaster. Looking at this, I thought it was cool in a geeky way. Then I looked over at the microwave oven we just got for our wedding and the coffee waiting for me in the press. I have to say that after going a number of months of living with the restriction of jiffy pop for popcorn popping purposes, this wasn’t such a cool idea.

The real problem is that there is only one location in the west end of Vancouver that we have ever been able to find jiffy pop at. I can’t be too sure how far that is, but you can get there and back within the time span of a single intermission during a Canucks game.

When I sat down to read this again, I realized that it’s just a ghetto coffee roaster. I live in Vancouver where you can’t throw a rock without hitting some place to grab a coffee. Fantastic coffee, I might add. Don’t need the roaster, but the microwave is sweet.  So is the toaster oven!

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Studying the Spread of Computer Viruses

F-Secure has long been a site where I’ve looked towards to track the latest developments in the world of computer worms and viruses. Lately they’ve unveiled their world map to the public. It’s a great tool to see the spread of the lastest threat as well as older threats that are still out there. It gives you a sense of the urgent need for technical security of electronic information.

Remember, just because you patched your computer and don’t have any problems does not mean that you will always be safe from the old and new. This is an informative tool, but creepy all at the same time.