Chicagoist: Bla-lego-vich

Chicagoist: Bla-lego-vich

Blgo. gets a Leggo set.... lol

"Parents Just Don't Understand: 12/2" by Susanna Wolff on CollegeHumor

"Parents Just Don't Understand: 12/2" by Susanna Wolff on CollegeHumor: "My dad bought a Wii just a while before Thanksgiving. A few days later my mom asked my brother if he was going to be playing with his 'wii-wii' for the next few hours. He really didn't know whether to correct her or to be mortified.
Danita H, James Madison University"

That would probably have to be my favorite quote... umm ever

Uughh: 50 Christmas Wii Flip-Outs Make You Hate Nintendo, Holidays, Children, The World

Uughh: 50 Christmas Wii Flip-Outs Make You Hate Nintendo, Holidays, Children, The World

Ummmm wow... kids really like the Wii

50 kids happy to get a Nintendo Wii for Christmas - watch more gamer videos

NJ Tech Talk

NJ Tech Talk

Now that my blog is up and running fell free to drop by when ever you want to view new posts, comment on them, or even send me suggestions for future blog posts. It's super cool and super easy. Below is the rss feed or recent posts and comments.

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Video: SUV Owner Strikes Back and Tows a Tow Truck

Video: SUV Owner Strikes Back and Tows a Tow Truck: "Video: SUV Owner Strikes Back and Tows a Tow Truck
By Elaine Chow, 12:00 AM on Wed Dec 10 2008, 49,390 views



Standing by while your car gets towed is terrible. This Shangainese Chevy owner used its car's remaining two wheels to counterattack.

Note to Chinese tow companies: either get heavier trucks or remember to take them out of neutral."

Have to admit this isn't something that I would think to do, and I think that I would look very awkward pulling around a pickup truck.

Gizmodo, the Gadget Guide

Gizmodo, the Gadget Guide: "F-18 Crashes In San Diego, Kills Two"

This is just sad. Its amazing how the government would let a plane that they know might malfunction fly over a full packed neighborhood. Isn't area 51 for stuff like this. Come on Mr. President. Get on top of stuff like this. And people wonder why we don't like Bush.

YouTube - Don't mess with a marching band!

YouTube - Don't mess with a marching band!



Just prefect.

Blog Post: Verizon FIOS, pt. 1 http://s3nt.com/vdk

Blog Post: Facebook Pirate Language http://s3nt.com/ums

Dominoes: Giant Dominoes Made of 30,000 Dominoes, Fall Like...Falling Dominoes

That is what you call a geek with too much time
Dominoes: Giant Dominoes Made of 30,000 Dominoes, Fall Like...Falling Dominoes

Hit up the regular blog, http://www.jerrysmith.us.to for a full article on this vid.

Dealzmodo: 500GB Seagate Hard Drive for $50

Dealzmodo: 500GB Seagate Hard Drive for $50

Blog Post: Moments in Time http://s3nt.com/rgt

Seagate Barracuda 320GB Hard Drive

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB Hard Drive - 7200, 16MB, SATA-300, OEM ST3320620AS at TigerDirect.com

Good Deal via TigerDirect.com- Only $59.97

Traveling with electronics

Most of us like to travel. But when travel time comes so does the electronics packing. I have made a set of top five tips for traveling with electronics.

1. If you have a good laptop, get a good laptop case. You don't want a crappy case where you have the posibility of the case breaking and then breaking your laptop. Thank would be a trip killer. When buying your case make sure that your laptop will fit in the chase too :).
2. Make sure that you bring all power chords for any electronic device that you bring. Even if you fully charged the device before you left, bring the cord anyway. You never know when a device could die.
3. If your traveling with a family, get a good backpack for all your electronic devices. This keeps it simple and easy to know where everything is. Have your travel partner give any cords or electronic devices to you the day before the trip so that you can pack them the night before. It's easier to keep all the electronics in one place because its harder to loose them.
4. Label any and all cords with what they are and who they belong to. Just get a roll of masking tape, or a label maker, and just write a simple identification like jerry/cellphone and attach to the proper cord. It makes finding the proper cord easier. (For my full tips on cable management, refer to this post.)
5. Make a list of everything that you are bringing with you so that when it comes time to leave you can just look over the list and make sure that you have everything. It will re-packing much easier.

Bonus: These two tips go for anyone traveling.

• Just obey the law. They are there to protect you. If the speed limit it 35 then going 40 is ok, but going 45 is just plain stupid, and very dangerous.
• If your going to be driving, and like to talk on your cellphone, get a headset. Most states now have laws saying that you can't hold your phone and drive at the same time. And it makes the road safer for the people traveling.

Here is the Chris Pirillo video of this list.

#Jerry Chat Rules

These are the established rules for the #Jerry chatroom.

1. Explicit language is not allow, use results in an automatic kick.
2. Spamming of off-topic or live stream links will also result in an automatic kick.
3. Any op can kick for any reason, so be nice to them.
4. Discussion of illegal activity is not allowed and WILL RESULT IN A BAN, and may result in WyldRyde staff notification.
5. If you fell your were unfairly banned or kick send an appeal email to nj.jerrysmith@gmail.com with a subject of "Kick/Ban Appeal". Your appeal will be review by Jerry and appropriate action will be taken
6. Do not ask for vop/hop/aop. If you currently hold one of those PRIVLAGES and you ask for a level above the one you have you will AUTOMATICALLY loose an xop level.

 
Note: If your a nice guy/girl you won't have any problems here. 

Chat provided for free by:

Rules update on 5/12/2008 at 7:11 PM

-- Jerry Smith

The Final PC vs Mac battle

This is what any human geek will find when he gets bored and wanders to youtube. Please note there is a few adult words in this video so do not let your children watch if you are trying to keep their minds clean. Sorry but i had to post this it's funny.

-- Jerry Smith

Texter

We all have those certain sayings that we type in over and over again, such as your email, or the link to your blog. All this typing takes up productivity time. Even if you are a fast typist it will still take longer to enter 20 characters then it will take to do 5 key strokes. Well, thanks to texter that is now a possibility to only type those five key strokes. Once you download the software just use the command string Ctrl+Shift+H and you get a nice popup with two textboxes, one for the hotstring (or the text to be replaced) and the text to be inserted. It's simple and it also provides a approximate time saved statistic in the preferences menu. It's cool but say that you have multiple signatures that you have programmed and always forget what they are? Don't fret there is a "print cheetsheet" button in the preference too. As I said this program is cool. Once you start working in this software you won't have problems and it will become a real time saver. Below is a video from the texter website:

 

-- Jerry Smith

BitStrips Comic Creator

Bit Strips is a completely online comic strip creator where you make your own avatar and the put him through what ever you want. You can do as many strips as you want, with as many frames as you want. Its pretty easy, but I would recommend using a mouse to create the strip because it was kind of hard for me to move and resize items in the editor with the touch pad that I have on my laptop. Overall I would say that this was pretty good, but it was nice that I didn't need to download any software to run this. The future of software is heading to be completely online and this is a step in the right direction. On a ten scale this would get a 7.

Here is a .png image of the strip.

 

--Jerry Smith

Laptop purchase

So this past weekend I was doing my research on laptops. My decisions were narrowed down by price, and well that's it. My final decision was an Acer 15.4" Aspire 5315-2077, and decided to place my order on Friday night. It was 498.00 from Wal-Mart.com and came with the following specifications.

• CrystalBrite 15.4" widescreen LCD
• 1.86 GHz Intel Celeron M processor 540
• 1 GB or DDR2 system memory (RAM)
• 802.11 b/g built in wireless LAN
• Microsoft Vista Home Basis

Complete specifications are available at http://www.revies.cnet.com.
This laptop will be for simple tasks such as instant messaging, and running my live stream and, being the host of my chat room. If you have any suggestions for software I should run on this laptop just email them to me at nj.jerrysmith@gmail.com. Thanks in advanced for any suggestions.

--Jerry Smith

Register your #Jerry nickname

So you have been in and out of my chat room enough to the point where you know you'll be here everyday and you don't want anyone to steal your nickname, or you just plain don't want anyone to steal your nickname. Well then here is a way to register you nickname so that only you ,or whoever you give the password to, can use it.

Steps

1. Log-in to the chat room with the nickname your want to register. To find out how to log-in refer to this post.
   
2. After you have chatted with the nickname your want to register for over 120 seconds enter
   /msg nickserv REGISTER the password you want to use your email address
3. Click "Send" or hit enter
4. A new window should open and say <NickServ> Nickname your nick here registered
5. Just click the little red X under the word "TFLASH" in the upper right hand corner of the chat box
6. Continue chatting as normal

Note: The next time you log-in you must enter the password you supplied in step 2 in the password (optional) box.

Have fun chatting and please donate to WyldRyde (our chat provider) to keep these FREE services running.

How to log-in to my tech help chatroom

So...you need some help logging in to my chartroom. Well you've come to the right place then. All you have to do is follow the 4 simple steps below and you can ask as many questions as you want. Don't forget questions can also be emailed to mailto:nj.jerrysmith@gmail.com?subject=Tech%20Help.

Steps

1. Let the page load and then you should see a gray box that says "To start chatting please enter your nickname". Enter a nickname that you want to be identified as. DON'T use your first name unless you want people to know it. Chose something simple such as Lost@Tech or INeedHelp
2. Click Login, you don't have to worry about entering a password because only registered users need passwords.
1. To register your nickname refer to this post
3. Start chatting by typing your question in the white box next to the send button. Hit enter (above your right shift key and to the left of the quote, apostrophe key) or click on the send button.
4. Wait for our response and continue chatting.

Have fun and please be nice in my chat room because offensive users WILL BE KICKED. No questions asked. Please respect the authority of all ops (@ next to their names) and halfops (% next to their name). Thank you

We run on a WyldRyde server and it is free of charge. Visit there website here. Please donate to them to keep their free service running.

--Jerry Smith

Pandora- Free Online Music

When I say somenthing online is free it really must be because I'm just a fifteen year-old who doesn't have a credit or debit card to buy stuff online. So with that said, Pandora is a free online radio that I found in my travels on the internet. Click on the link below to be brought to their site.

Pandora Radio - Listen to Free Internet Radio, Find New Music

Simple steps to listen to you favorite song:

1. Go to Pandora.com.
2. Let the player load.
3. Type in the name of your favorite artist or song (ie. Greenday or Only One)
4. Hit Enter (above the right shift key and to the right of the quote and apostrophe button)
5. Listen to your song and other songs of the same qualities.
   

View Pandora's FAQ's at http://blog.pandora.com/faq/.

I hope you enjoy this way of listing to music....it is very interactive.

--Jerry Smith

Helping old people with technology

Hey all....here are my top five tips for helping seniors or the technological illiterate people with technology. Don't forget seniors can get very antsy and mad when it comes to stuff they don't know how to do so with that said here are my top five tips.

1. Be calm and talk slow. Seniors and the technological illiterate will NOT know all the shortcuts that we geeks know and live by. Most likely it will take them 3 or more times as long to do the simple tasks that we can do in five seconds. Talking slow and loudly (for seniors) will make this process much easer for them and less stressful for you.


2. Be prepared to explain the same thing multiple times. This will mostly apply to seniors because they often have problems hearing. So always tale VERY slow. Also be prepared to
   


3. Having a preprepared list of steps to read from, will make the process of teaching easier. Just type them or even write them up. It will make the speed of the session go so much faster because you won't have to sit there and stare at the screen with that blank stare that we get when we forget stuff.


4. When you are done showing the "student" what they asked you to teach them, ask them to use their computer to make a step-by-step instruction manual. Use the print screen button to take a screen capture of each page as you show them again how to do whatever they asked. Keep a word document (hopefully Microsoft Word) running in the background and then just copy down each screen capture into the document. After you have finished the task, use the simple drawing tools to circle the icons, drop down lists, or whatever they have to click on for that step. Put each picture on its own page and include text (use at least 20 size font).
   
1. Don't forget to save the file in a folder in their desktop and print out a hard copy for them to have.
   
2. Also, if you have a usb key (which most of us have) save a copy there to in case their computer crashes and they loose the file.
5. Show them how to open and print the file in case they loose it. Most likely they will and it will save a second trip to the house if you showed them how to print out another copy.

Bonus Tip!! Now with new technology there is the ability to screen record. Simply install a simple screen recording software
(such as CamStuido) and record the steps to a video file and embed you voice over it. To view an example of that watch this youtube video.

I hope these tips help you with your technological endeavors and make the process of teaching those new to the technological world how easy it is to use these quite simple machines.

Here Chris Pirillo's video of these tips.


--Jerry Smith

Microsoft Wireless Laser Desktop 5000

Today I was gifted a Microsoft Wireless Laser Desktop 5000 Keyboard and Mouse. Out of the box it was nice. The keyboard is ergonomically approved. There is a raised palm rest and a bent keyboard. There is also some accessories along the top (Media Controls, Customizable Links, and other assorted controls). The raised palm rest is a issue because my keyboard shelf does not always open all the way and I can't fit my hand under the bar to type so I have to pull out the keyboard all the way and the grip needed for me to do that end ups with grease or lubricant on my hands. There is also and enhanced f-key bar with shortcuts to commonly used items. The mouse is a 5-button laser with a four-way click wheel. There is nice response time and is pretty accurate. My overall first impression was good but I think that the downward slope of the keyboard will be annoying and that adjusting to the side buttons on the mouse will take some time. I think that this was a good gift and that Microsoft makes nice wireless keyboard combos. Check back later for more updates.

View photos here !!

--Jerry Smith

My Computer

I though I'd post my computer specs so you could know what I run and what runs it.

• Brand: HP
• Model: Pavilion a1250n
• Screen: 17in HP vs17
  
• RAM: 2GB
• Processor: AMD Athlon 64 x2 Dual Core Processor 3800+ 2.00 GHz
• Video Card: Radeon Express 200 Series
  
• Audio: Realtek AC'97 Speakers (Built in to monitor)
  
• Standard HP Keyboard and Mouse
• DVD/CD Drive: (2) HP VD Writer 740r ATA w/ LightScribe and IDE-DVD DROM9216 ATA
  
• Printer: HP Photosmart 8250
• External Hard Drive: Elements 500GB (via usb)
• Web Camera: Creative Live! Cam IM Pro (VF0410)
• Network Adapters: (2) Netgear WG311v3 54mbps Wireless PCI Adapter and Realtek RTL8139/810x Family Fast Ethernet NIC
• 16 in 1 Card Reader
• 7 USB 2.0 Ports, 2 Firewire 400 Ports
  
• Thumb Drive: PNY Optima Pro Attache 4GB
• Primary OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 32bit (had for almost 10 months now and no BSOD yet, knock on wood)
• Primary browser: Firefox 2.0.0.12
  
• Antivirus: Grisoft AVG Free Edition
  
• Anti Spyware: Spybot Search and Destroy
• Instant Messing: AIM
• Blog Post Editor: Scribe Fire (FireFox Add-in)

If you have any other questions about my computer feel free to contact me at nj.jerrysmith@gmail.com.

--Jerry Smith

Specification

Screens, laptops, "usba", RAM, Hard drives, ect.

Thank god my birthday isn't next week or even next month because the list of things that I have compiled that I need is starting to overflow my brain and the little post-it note that I have it all scribbled down on. All the stuff I need computer related or not is just staring to get overwhelming and actually getting it all will be a very confusing path. Birthday, random incomes, Christmas, or even a job (which i so desperately need); are just many of the numerous ways for me to obtain things. Thank god for money....here is the list of "stuff" that I think I need :)

1. Solid State Hard Drive to supplement my two existing internal hard drives (225GB and 8GB) and my external hard drive (500GB)
1. Don't even get me stared on what size I should ask for/ buy
2. Wireless headphones for my computer. I have a Creative Live! Cam Video IM Pro attached to my computer (via usb) and the supplied headphone and ear buds are too long because they were designed to be attached to the back of the computer but, let it be, I have ports on the front. So when I'm rolling around my room I am constantly rolling over the cord and getting it stuck in the wheels of my chair.
3. An "usba" or usb hub. I am now running out of USB 2.0 ports on my computer. I have a external hard drive, a printer, a web cam, and a thumb drive that are all usb and my computer has 7 ports (4 in the back, 3 in the front). I'm starting to run out of room! Maybe I might even have to get a 3.0 hub (gotta stay with the latest technology).
   
4. Another GB of ram for my computer. My computer is ok but when I start video IMing my friends my computer goes down the toilet. The addition of the video im makes it so much harder to do simple tasks such as open Microsoft Word or watch a YouTube video.
   
5. Another monitor for my computer. I currently have a HP vs17 on my computer with built in speakers but when I start doing multiple things on the little 17in screen, real estate starts to go way up. I'm looking at a Dell 19in 1908WFP Wide Flat Panel which has multiple usb ports on the side (Yay!)
1. Along with the screen comes the task of buying another video card (Boo)
6. And finally an EEE Pc from Asus. This would make life easier because I could bring this tiny little laptop on vacation with me when I need to do homework or other little tasks. It also comes with a built in web cam and has a solid state hard drive so it can survive those little falls.
   

That caps off my list for now. Check back later to see if the list grows or maybe even shrinks....

--Jerry Smith

Machines 'to match man by 2029'

BBC NEWS | Americas | Machines 'to match man by 2029'

Cable Managment

USB, Power, FireWire....There are many types of cables out in the world that do many different things. Bring things to life, carry data, output sound. But the more cable you get the harder it is to keep track of them. They start showing up in different locations around your room or home office. Here are my top five tips for cable management

• Keep one draw or box for all of your cables. This may be hard but when you go looking for that special usb cable for your iPod it cuts down the look time drastically.
  
• LABEL, LABEL, LABEL...after a while you might get two or three black power cords that have different ends but say the same thing or nothing on the adapter. Use a silver sharpie (4 for $5.19 at staples) or buy a pack of file folder labels and write on them in PEN. Nothing's worse than having the lettering fade of a label in a draw full of identical cables
• When storing fold them up and put a rubber band around them...It makes it easy to store in a draw and if you have them on a desk it keeps the desk clean.
• Put heavily used USB cables into the plugs in the back of the computer...this makes it easier to connect those "quick use" cables in the front.
• If you don't have USB connections on the front of the computer or have more usb cords than your computer has connections...buy a USB hub (Chris Pirillo reviewed one here). It makes access to ports better and you can put it right under your screen. When buying a hub always thing about future expansion.
• BONUS!!! Try and keep cords going to the same area rubber banded or twisty tied together. This makes it easier to control the mess of cords behind the computer and makes it look more sightly if your computer isn't in a case.

I hope these help you clear up the clutter on your desk and by your computer.

Chris Pirillo's video of my top 5 list.


--Jerry Smith

Jerry Smith For Dummies

This is a result of way too much spare time and Google.

Get your own at JellyMuffin.com

Windows Vista

I upgraded to Windows Vista about 8 months ago and have been somewhat pleased. I found that the overall UI has been changed very much, specifically the start bar. It took me a while to get used to, but the transition ran somewhat smoothly. Around Thanksgiving I found that the computer was starting to run slightly slower and decided to check out the RAM on my HP Pavilion a1250n and found that Vista Areo had taken around 300mb of my ram and dedicated it directly to video. I was more than slightly pissed at this and found that the only way to fix the problem was to disable Areo but i didn't want to because I think that it made the UI much nicer. So I decided to ask for another GB of ram for Christmas and that did the trick. My computer has been running fine since the upgrade. Here my top 5 tips that I have for new Vista customers.

• Disable the sidebar, it's nice if you want you computer to slow down so much that it takes forever to start up. I found that there was really no use for it and that it had really pointless gadgets, I mean...come on..a cpu speed test, is it really that hard to do the regular way, it also takes up room on your desktop that can be used for better things.
  
• Upgrade to at least 2GB of ram...if you can't afford that or you don't want to disable Areo and set the display theme to Vista Basic...it will speed up your computer so much.
  
• Customize the size of the desktop icon text. To do this right click on the desktop and go to personalize. Click the Adjust font size (DPI) at the left. Click Custom and drag the ruler to change the size. This makes reading the icon text easier.
  
• Group the icons. This way you can put the most used icons in the middle of the screen or anywhere else you want them. I have my desktop organized into three sections. Two across the top and one down the right side. The first group is hard drive links, and my recycle bin, and anti-spy ware/firewall. The second group is basically all my most used programs; Word, Excel, PowerPoint, yadda, yadda, yadda. My third group is links to file folders that contain documents. There is a link for My Doucments, Pictures, and Music, and also my Website, Projects, and School Work.
  
• Disable pointless start up programs. Do this by either going into the startup folder in the all programs folder or run "msconfig". This opens the System Configuration Utility. Go to the startup tab and disable anything that isn't absolutely necessary. Especially do this after installing a HP software on you computer, they typically come with a lot of bloat ware.
  

Have fun with you new OS. Explore, poke around, have fun with it. If you really mess anything up just roll back the computer using System Restore. Have Fun

-- Jerry Smith

Big Blue

Hut…Hut…Hike! As many of you know the local New York Giants have made it into Super Bowl XLII. I'm sorry to inform you but my stance is, “THE GIANTS HAVE NO CHANCE.” I don’t think that the Patriots came all this way to lose to a team the beat a little over 3 weeks ago. Yes I know the Giants have been on a roll and the Pats haven’t been doing so well. But, just think a minute. The Pat’s won in the last game of the season. They already knew that they were in the playoffs and that they were probably in the Super Bowl so they didn't have to try their hardest. Some can say that they were going for an undefeated season and were actually trying but that is not my belief. My final prediction for the big game. Pats over the Giants 42-41.

Kick Start

Hi all this is my first blog entry and im starting one now so that I can get in the habit of regularly updating and giving me something to do in my life on top of my other 8 trillion and 2 commitments. I will try to incorporate as much as I can into my blog. If I ever get a moment alone in my house I might record a video blog….as of now don't count on that. Technology, sports, football playoffs, anything playoffs/championships, school, and anything else I feel like commenting on or bragging or bashing on. This is a first for me, and I want to make it a weekly and eventually daily occurrence. Have fun reading.

--Jerry Smith