SkivinatorLight a man on fire and he’ll be warm for the rest of his life.

Come and See!Filed Under: Life

PerspectiveFiled Under: Life, Rant

It continually amazes me that after a moment of insight what was once so mundane and typical is transformed to odd and Jamais vu*.

Picture from www.illustratorworld.com

*(French: “never seen” opposite of Deja vu)

“Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.” -Marie Curie

My most recent insights have been from an educational film from a Professor at the University of Massachusetts named Sut Jhally . I watched a graphic but extremely enlightening interpretation of how the media (particularly the Music/Music Video Industry) and our culture are intertwined and interact. The film is called Dreamworlds 3.

The film discusses how music videos have moved from a cultural fringe to the mainstream, and how this change has effected our society in the form of cultural stories and cultural acceptability. The film shows footage of riots and group molestations caught on film and the startling, almost exact, similarities in some music videos.

The most moving and, and to be honest, the most disgusting part of the film discusses how the objectification of women in the media (in the makers opinion) is changing the inner understanding of how young girls view themselves and the world.

I would suggest it to any adult.

This film deals with subjects and content that is not for children or adolescents.

The film brings a type of accountably and rational that I have sensed lacking from our “mainstream” media. We should be holding makers and broadcasters of this content accountable for what they are encouraging.

This is you Viacom (in the form of MTV and BET), Sony BMG, Warner, and Universal.

Watch at your own risk, anything you watch.

Thank you Mr. Sut Jhally. I appreciate your thoughts.

PS3 and Mac DLNA SolvedFiled Under: Wow that's cool

So those of you on the “bleeding edge of technology” have been down in the dumps recently on how to get your new PS3 and your Apple computer to sync in sharing media. I found a fix!!**

EyeConnect- 1.5.1

This little bit of code was whipped up by a nifty little company called Elgato. They make media interfaces and software for your Mac.

This app free to download and free to use, unlike some of the other attempts at bringing DLNA compatibility to os x.

Allegro Media Server- $40 bones

TwonkyMedia- $40 bones

For those of you who are unfamiliar, DLNA (or Digital Living Network Alliance) is an attempt to offer plug-and-play capabilities with a wide variety of products and manufactures.

To be fair there is a freeware package that claims to bring DLNA compatability to your Mac called mediatomb, but those who aren’t Terminal savvy need not apply. Personally I couldn’t get the darn thing to database my shared folders, but if your looking for a challenge and more control check it out.

If you are running a windows box, from what I understand compatibility comes standard with WMP 11. So all you suckers still stuck getting the “blue screen of death” need not worry.

The freeware package installs a icon in your System Pref’s to manipulate what you do and do not want to share. So, Have At It!!

P.S.- Apple, where are you on this one…. why isn’t this built into 10.5???

BTW- I know I haven’t been posting lately… sue me.

*UPDATE: I have read a couple of threads today suggesting that others have not had the same success as I have with Eyeconnect. It worked wonderful for me… Granted the codec’s need to be installed on your PS3, and your network needs to be able to handle it (wifi is usually your bottleneck), but it worked for me without any trouble. Feedback???

**UPDATE: I have also found another freeware program called CyberMediaGate but have not tested it out yet.

What to do with 2 weeks off of workFiled Under: Life

So you would think that with 2 weeks off of work that I would find some more time to be on-line and write… WRONG!

I have way too many things that I think I want to do. Besides reading Bram Stokers Dracula, purchasing and installing a new over-the-range microwave and Refrigerator (not over-the-range, silly rabbit), and installing Gusty on my lappy (thanks Karl); I have decide I need to learn how to be a “real man” and install tile. My buddie Dustin is the king of all that is know as “building” and so I recruited him to help me because I have never done anything like this before.

The back bathroom in our condo has been crying to me for a while now and all it talks about it tile. So I said, “Damn you bathroom, if I give it to you will you leave me alone!…” It agreed and I started.

As some of you have noticed by now I must have a Mohawk when working on projects.

After the walls were stripped of their precious Sheetrock, they received the new Hardybacker with all the love and tenderness that a child can give a parent. And with a whine asked when it was going to get its tile. Walls are so impatient.

As my Yachting partner Mac-tastic blurted out when she saw it, we have a brick pattern on the walls with a windmill on the floor. The product is Slate from Lowes. Oh, Lowes how you make my projects accessible.

Well, I am about a week out from grouting with what I have left to put up, plus the Grand mal seizure of a holiday that is Christmas, and our little trip to Cali for 4 days. Hopefully it will be done before the new Semester. (Thats right I have a bachelors and I’m going back for more undergraduate work, in one word- Masochistic.)

Franky Fard and the Scooter LoungeFiled Under: Rant

        The Scooter Lounge is the best and, in my opinion, the only place to buy or repair a scooter in Utah County. The guys there have sold me parts for my scooter a couple of times over the last 3 years. They are great, honest, and will be inconvenienced a little just to do what is right for YOU, the customer.

        This last summer I got 3 flats on my scoot and didn’t have any cash. (Now, in telling all of you this I don’t mean to imply that you should do the same, but with that said…) The guys at the Scooter Lounge let me use their pry-bar to get my tire off of the wheel to replace the tube. They let me use their pry-bar in their shop for FREE, and they were really cool to do so. Granted I  bought the tire from the Scooter Lounge, but come on, no where else would that happen.

         Point of Story: This guy Farzad Fard is screwing them over. He has written them bad checks and now is threatening a law suit because they decided to do the public a favor and let everyone one know, who reads their blog, that this guy won’t pay.  

Mr. Fard I hope you get your just deserts from your actions.