I'm working on a new project for school. It's called Doodle. I hope to have a site for it up soon.
In the meantime, check out my first webcomic! (yay!) It's right here....
Tech Support
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Saturday, July 14, 2007
From iTunes to an MP3 player
I have a Creative Zen Portable Media Center.
I love it.
It plays movies, MP3's, WMA's, and has a 14 hour battery life (playing music) and a 7 hour battery life playing video.
However, I was having a hard time converting iTunes songs to run on the PMC.
Enter two tools: QTFairUse, and Winamp Pro. With QTFairUse, I can remove the protection on the iTunes files. Winamp Pro will play the songs after that (they have a m4a extension). Now I can right-click on a file in Winamp, select "Send To->Format Converter", and select Mp3 as the format. Winamp then happily loads the files on my PMC.
Yes, it's still some work, but with the advent of DRM free music on iTunes, it'll be even easier.
I love it.
It plays movies, MP3's, WMA's, and has a 14 hour battery life (playing music) and a 7 hour battery life playing video.
However, I was having a hard time converting iTunes songs to run on the PMC.
Enter two tools: QTFairUse, and Winamp Pro. With QTFairUse, I can remove the protection on the iTunes files. Winamp Pro will play the songs after that (they have a m4a extension). Now I can right-click on a file in Winamp, select "Send To->Format Converter", and select Mp3 as the format. Winamp then happily loads the files on my PMC.
Yes, it's still some work, but with the advent of DRM free music on iTunes, it'll be even easier.
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Speaking of TV
The new Doctor Who premiers a new episode this Friday, July 6. Kyle XY has been good so far this summer, and Eureka is back.
ABC Family is producing several original series this year. I have to say that I'm impressed with their lineup, but dismayed that "a new kind of family" means "shows that are NOT kid safe", such as Austin Powers.
I like that we do have some original programming over the summer; that goes a long way toward relieving my frustration at not having new BSG or Heroes episodes to watch.
ABC Family is producing several original series this year. I have to say that I'm impressed with their lineup, but dismayed that "a new kind of family" means "shows that are NOT kid safe", such as Austin Powers.
I like that we do have some original programming over the summer; that goes a long way toward relieving my frustration at not having new BSG or Heroes episodes to watch.
Summer movie update: Transformers and Fantastic Four
I have decided that film critics get a kick out of saying bad things about a movie - regardless of whether they're true.
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer didnt' suck. However, it needed another half hour for character development and a serious kick to the head for whomever thought a "sky car that splits in to four pieces" was a good idea.
The real gem (so far) this summer is Transformers.
Here's my review:
omigod omigod omigod!!
That was 2 hours and 20 minutes of AWESOME!!
Okay, now for something less fanboyish:
Visually, Dreamworks and ILM are just magic together. Michael Bay did an incredible job directing this thing.
First things first; the corn factor: you expect a movie based on an 80s cartoon series based on toys to be corny. There wasn't any of that. Well, there was a teeny bit when Jazz opened his mouth (but who didn't expect that? He's JAZZ.) But it fit in with the script: "We learned your language from the world wide web." Well, the "searching the house while Autobots wait outside" scene was corny but amusing. It worked for me.
Visuals? This looked even better than the new Star Wars franchise, and that's saying a lot, since the Phantom Menace was the first movie ever to use CGI that was virtually indistinguishable from reality. The giant robots, airplanes, and Other Cool Stuff in this film were also so real that I now take a second look whenever I see semi trucks, yellow Camaros, or even F-22's.
Action? Yes. In fact, it was literally jaw-dropping. Several times, I had to close my mouth to stop catching flies.
Dialog? Well written. Well acted. Never did if feel like a cartoon re-make; it felt original all the way through.
Plot? It's not purist fare: the human characters from the tv series aren't there; instead we have the 16 year old great-grandson of an arctic explorer discovering that we're not alone in the universe in the most dramatic fashion possible: by almost being squished to a pulp by some of that extraterrestrial life. The Cube or Allspark (depending on who talks about it) is lost, and the Deceptacons and Autobots are competing to see who can find it first. The Allspark is what birthed the Transformers in the first place; Megatron wants to use it to birth a new race of robots on the Earth - a race that will be subservient to him. Optimus Prime wants to use it to restore Cybertron, or failing that - destroy it.
You see, the problem with using the Allspark to make new Transformers is that they tend to be destructive when born. Don't ask me why some are good and other aren't, but ALL of the robots seem to have two traits in common: they adapt, and they're STRONG. Even a dog-sized robot (that transforms in to a boombox and later a portable phone) is capable of terrorizing and taking out several well-armed professionals. Imagine the mayhem that ensues when the 50-foot tall variety get in to it.
I think that the screen writers answered all my questions about Transformer life: why "transformers" in the first place? Why are they alive? Why can they be killed (you'd think that a robot, being a mobile computer, could just be downloaded or restored from a backup.) Well, it turns out that the previously mentioned allspark imbues electronic devices with LIFE, and not just the mechanical simulation of life; they are really alive and can be killed. Once their spark goes out, they cannot be reborn - even if their bodies are repaired.
And yes - they did leave the door open for a sequel, which I'm sure will be forthcoming in 2010 or so.
I did notice one continuity lapse... it has to do with worldwide computer viruses and F-22 raptors. But considering the fact that I didn't think about it until the next day, it wasn't glaring. (and it's even explainable... but that's a topic for another day.)
I tend to rate movies by "will I buy it on DVD, and will I get the Special Edition?"
F4? I'll get it, along with the first one, but only if I can find them on sale. But I'll buy Transformers the day it comes out, and yes - I'll be getting the Special Edition with all the extra features.
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer didnt' suck. However, it needed another half hour for character development and a serious kick to the head for whomever thought a "sky car that splits in to four pieces" was a good idea.
The real gem (so far) this summer is Transformers.
Here's my review:
omigod omigod omigod!!
That was 2 hours and 20 minutes of AWESOME!!
Okay, now for something less fanboyish:
Visually, Dreamworks and ILM are just magic together. Michael Bay did an incredible job directing this thing.
First things first; the corn factor: you expect a movie based on an 80s cartoon series based on toys to be corny. There wasn't any of that. Well, there was a teeny bit when Jazz opened his mouth (but who didn't expect that? He's JAZZ.) But it fit in with the script: "We learned your language from the world wide web." Well, the "searching the house while Autobots wait outside" scene was corny but amusing. It worked for me.
Visuals? This looked even better than the new Star Wars franchise, and that's saying a lot, since the Phantom Menace was the first movie ever to use CGI that was virtually indistinguishable from reality. The giant robots, airplanes, and Other Cool Stuff in this film were also so real that I now take a second look whenever I see semi trucks, yellow Camaros, or even F-22's.
Action? Yes. In fact, it was literally jaw-dropping. Several times, I had to close my mouth to stop catching flies.
Dialog? Well written. Well acted. Never did if feel like a cartoon re-make; it felt original all the way through.
Plot? It's not purist fare: the human characters from the tv series aren't there; instead we have the 16 year old great-grandson of an arctic explorer discovering that we're not alone in the universe in the most dramatic fashion possible: by almost being squished to a pulp by some of that extraterrestrial life. The Cube or Allspark (depending on who talks about it) is lost, and the Deceptacons and Autobots are competing to see who can find it first. The Allspark is what birthed the Transformers in the first place; Megatron wants to use it to birth a new race of robots on the Earth - a race that will be subservient to him. Optimus Prime wants to use it to restore Cybertron, or failing that - destroy it.
You see, the problem with using the Allspark to make new Transformers is that they tend to be destructive when born. Don't ask me why some are good and other aren't, but ALL of the robots seem to have two traits in common: they adapt, and they're STRONG. Even a dog-sized robot (that transforms in to a boombox and later a portable phone) is capable of terrorizing and taking out several well-armed professionals. Imagine the mayhem that ensues when the 50-foot tall variety get in to it.
I think that the screen writers answered all my questions about Transformer life: why "transformers" in the first place? Why are they alive? Why can they be killed (you'd think that a robot, being a mobile computer, could just be downloaded or restored from a backup.) Well, it turns out that the previously mentioned allspark imbues electronic devices with LIFE, and not just the mechanical simulation of life; they are really alive and can be killed. Once their spark goes out, they cannot be reborn - even if their bodies are repaired.
And yes - they did leave the door open for a sequel, which I'm sure will be forthcoming in 2010 or so.
I did notice one continuity lapse... it has to do with worldwide computer viruses and F-22 raptors. But considering the fact that I didn't think about it until the next day, it wasn't glaring. (and it's even explainable... but that's a topic for another day.)
I tend to rate movies by "will I buy it on DVD, and will I get the Special Edition?"
F4? I'll get it, along with the first one, but only if I can find them on sale. But I'll buy Transformers the day it comes out, and yes - I'll be getting the Special Edition with all the extra features.
Friday, June 1, 2007
Now that summer is here...
...all of my favorite TV series' are on break.
So let's recap.
Heroes: The exploding man was stopped - sort of. I was sitting there, thinking "when Peter uses one power, he can't use another. Why didn't he just fly?" But the writers wanted to end the series with Nathan sacrificing himself, contrasting his selfish actions throughout the rest of the season. Amazingly enough, the plot to blow up New York involved nearly everyone in Peter's life - including his final hospice patient. Possibly my favorite development is that Nikki finally comes to terms with her alter-ego, Jessica, and takes Jessica's power as her own. I'd hoped to see that all season long. And how cool was it to see Mr Sulu in a role where he gets to strut a little? (anybody remember the Star Trek episode where he did some sword fighting?) Hiro's trip to the far past has some VERY intriguing possibilities. I'm looking forward to seeing where they go with that.
Smallville: Bizarro? Interesting. Chloe's dead. Lois is alive because of Chloe's sacrifice. Clark and Lois have been forming a real friendship over the last couple of seasons, so the stage is all set for "Clark, Lois, and Jimmy" next season. We've also seen J'onn J'onzz revealed. That was nicely handled, IMO.
Lost: Jack led the survivors to rescue, but made himself miserable in the process. We also have the mystery death (My guess is that it was Locke). Charlie is dead. But we also find out that the ship who resuces the survivors is not what it claims to be. Ben's comments ("the Island is under attack") makes me wonder if the island is alive somehow. Certainly there are now new questions regarding the island, the inhabitants, and the future of everyone on the island.
So here are my predictions for next season. Once the season is underway, you can come back and tell me what an idiot I am or how much of a sage I am for being right:
Heroes: Peter is not dead. In "Five Years Gone", Peter is alive, despite having been the exploding man. Since the second season is not a continuation of the first season's story, I can't begin to guess what other fun stuff they'll throw in.
Smallville: Clark and Lois will hit their stride together. One or both of them will start working for the Planet, possibly after the current editor leaves and Perry White is hired. Jimmy and Clark will turn to each other for friendship in the wake of Chloe's death. Lois's natural curiosity will get her in to more and more trouble, which Clark will save her from. I'm also guessing that the only way to stop Bizarro will be to re-power the fortress. Remember the "power source" from the beginning of the season?
Lost: The only way I can see to resolve Jack's future dilemma is to change the past. I'm guessing that the first new footage of next season will be the same scene with Jack, Locke, and the sat phone. But instead of talking to the person on the freighter, Jack will hang the phone up. Thus, the future events from the S3 finale will be an alternate future that doesn't happen.
The biggest question that I have at this point is "What's up with the Others?" They can't be Island born, since pregnant women die, and so they can't be true natives. So why, then, do these Others seem to fight with everyone they encounter? So far, they've killed several Oceanic survivors, the entire Dharma project, and possibly other people who have accidentally discovered the island.
So let's recap.
Heroes: The exploding man was stopped - sort of. I was sitting there, thinking "when Peter uses one power, he can't use another. Why didn't he just fly?" But the writers wanted to end the series with Nathan sacrificing himself, contrasting his selfish actions throughout the rest of the season. Amazingly enough, the plot to blow up New York involved nearly everyone in Peter's life - including his final hospice patient. Possibly my favorite development is that Nikki finally comes to terms with her alter-ego, Jessica, and takes Jessica's power as her own. I'd hoped to see that all season long. And how cool was it to see Mr Sulu in a role where he gets to strut a little? (anybody remember the Star Trek episode where he did some sword fighting?) Hiro's trip to the far past has some VERY intriguing possibilities. I'm looking forward to seeing where they go with that.
Smallville: Bizarro? Interesting. Chloe's dead. Lois is alive because of Chloe's sacrifice. Clark and Lois have been forming a real friendship over the last couple of seasons, so the stage is all set for "Clark, Lois, and Jimmy" next season. We've also seen J'onn J'onzz revealed. That was nicely handled, IMO.
Lost: Jack led the survivors to rescue, but made himself miserable in the process. We also have the mystery death (My guess is that it was Locke). Charlie is dead. But we also find out that the ship who resuces the survivors is not what it claims to be. Ben's comments ("the Island is under attack") makes me wonder if the island is alive somehow. Certainly there are now new questions regarding the island, the inhabitants, and the future of everyone on the island.
So here are my predictions for next season. Once the season is underway, you can come back and tell me what an idiot I am or how much of a sage I am for being right:
Heroes: Peter is not dead. In "Five Years Gone", Peter is alive, despite having been the exploding man. Since the second season is not a continuation of the first season's story, I can't begin to guess what other fun stuff they'll throw in.
Smallville: Clark and Lois will hit their stride together. One or both of them will start working for the Planet, possibly after the current editor leaves and Perry White is hired. Jimmy and Clark will turn to each other for friendship in the wake of Chloe's death. Lois's natural curiosity will get her in to more and more trouble, which Clark will save her from. I'm also guessing that the only way to stop Bizarro will be to re-power the fortress. Remember the "power source" from the beginning of the season?
Lost: The only way I can see to resolve Jack's future dilemma is to change the past. I'm guessing that the first new footage of next season will be the same scene with Jack, Locke, and the sat phone. But instead of talking to the person on the freighter, Jack will hang the phone up. Thus, the future events from the S3 finale will be an alternate future that doesn't happen.
The biggest question that I have at this point is "What's up with the Others?" They can't be Island born, since pregnant women die, and so they can't be true natives. So why, then, do these Others seem to fight with everyone they encounter? So far, they've killed several Oceanic survivors, the entire Dharma project, and possibly other people who have accidentally discovered the island.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Spiderman 3
I saw Spiderman 3 last night. There were parts of it I really loved, and while I can't say I hated anything about it, I was left a little un-fulfilled by the ending.
First of all, The action was great throughout. The actors are all top-notch (I especially like Topher Grace AKA Eric Foreman as the "bad boy" competition for Peter Parker's job as photographer at the Bugle. He did a great job of being just annoying enough that you wanted to punch hsi lights out, while still being likeable enough that... well, let's not go there quite yet. I also thought The Sandman was brilliantly portrayed as another villian who's not really evil - just misunderstood. Of course, the Peter/MJ/Harry trio are all brilliant.
I started thinking about the villians in this film, and one of the things I realized about all of Spidey's foes is that they're not truely evil in the classic comic book villian sense. They're just.... disturbed. All of the villians in the series are not evil people; they're just tragic. First, the Green Goblin loses the government contract that would have saved his company, and he loses his sanity experimenting on himself. Who couldn't sympathize with Doctor Octopus? He loses everything: his career, his wife, even his future.
What I loved is how, in this third installment, the hero himself must face his own internal battle. This time, it's not the struggle to overcome teenage awkwardness, and it's not the challenge of telling the woman you love that you can't be without her. Instead, he's fighting for his very soul. Will he win by being the good man he is, or will he let revenge and hate run his life? It's like the parallel challenges that Anakin and Luke Skywalker faced: one went to the dark side, and the other stayed on the light.
Were there things I didn't like? Yes. Certain parts of the conclusion left me feeling more confused than satisfied, and I could have wished for a very different outcome for another character.
Finally, there were a couple of consistency issues in the film. Consistency problems, whether internal (something happens one way at one point in the movie, but has a very different effect another time) or external (breaking the laws of physics or nature) always bug me in a film.
When watching a scene, the audience has to get sucked in. They have to believe every second of what they're seeing. When a major, glaring violation of the laws of physics happens, it doesn't make me go "wow, look at that!" Instead, it makes me go, "aw jeez. How fake," and the whole scene loses much of its impact (sometime, I'll write about airplanes in space). One such incident was the crane scene early on. A girder smashes right through part of a building... one that should have stopped the girder cold. Those scenes always annoy me, because I know what should happen, and so when something different happens, I can't stay with the scene. It's gone from "oh wow" to "oh fake".
Likewise, the moment of the Sandman's origin is completely implausible, because the security was far too lax for something as significant as what was going on there. They didn't even have a camera on the scene to record the event?
Those kinds of things don't have to be that way. It wouldn't have cost any more money to write the scenes properly and to design an effects sequence that wouldn't break the rules of reality. Yes, I know that a sentient ball of sand is a little implausible, but that's why it's even more important to keep the other laws of nature intact. By keeping the rest of the story completely believable, the writer makes the viewer want to believe that the one thing he sees that seems to break the rules is still real.
Despite that (which is admittedly my pet peeve in action and sci-fi movies), I though this movie stood up well next to its two predecessors. In fact, I'm betting that there will be an S4. I can only imagine what they'll think up for that one.
First of all, The action was great throughout. The actors are all top-notch (I especially like Topher Grace AKA Eric Foreman as the "bad boy" competition for Peter Parker's job as photographer at the Bugle. He did a great job of being just annoying enough that you wanted to punch hsi lights out, while still being likeable enough that... well, let's not go there quite yet. I also thought The Sandman was brilliantly portrayed as another villian who's not really evil - just misunderstood. Of course, the Peter/MJ/Harry trio are all brilliant.
I started thinking about the villians in this film, and one of the things I realized about all of Spidey's foes is that they're not truely evil in the classic comic book villian sense. They're just.... disturbed. All of the villians in the series are not evil people; they're just tragic. First, the Green Goblin loses the government contract that would have saved his company, and he loses his sanity experimenting on himself. Who couldn't sympathize with Doctor Octopus? He loses everything: his career, his wife, even his future.
What I loved is how, in this third installment, the hero himself must face his own internal battle. This time, it's not the struggle to overcome teenage awkwardness, and it's not the challenge of telling the woman you love that you can't be without her. Instead, he's fighting for his very soul. Will he win by being the good man he is, or will he let revenge and hate run his life? It's like the parallel challenges that Anakin and Luke Skywalker faced: one went to the dark side, and the other stayed on the light.
Were there things I didn't like? Yes. Certain parts of the conclusion left me feeling more confused than satisfied, and I could have wished for a very different outcome for another character.
Finally, there were a couple of consistency issues in the film. Consistency problems, whether internal (something happens one way at one point in the movie, but has a very different effect another time) or external (breaking the laws of physics or nature) always bug me in a film.
When watching a scene, the audience has to get sucked in. They have to believe every second of what they're seeing. When a major, glaring violation of the laws of physics happens, it doesn't make me go "wow, look at that!" Instead, it makes me go, "aw jeez. How fake," and the whole scene loses much of its impact (sometime, I'll write about airplanes in space). One such incident was the crane scene early on. A girder smashes right through part of a building... one that should have stopped the girder cold. Those scenes always annoy me, because I know what should happen, and so when something different happens, I can't stay with the scene. It's gone from "oh wow" to "oh fake".
Likewise, the moment of the Sandman's origin is completely implausible, because the security was far too lax for something as significant as what was going on there. They didn't even have a camera on the scene to record the event?
Those kinds of things don't have to be that way. It wouldn't have cost any more money to write the scenes properly and to design an effects sequence that wouldn't break the rules of reality. Yes, I know that a sentient ball of sand is a little implausible, but that's why it's even more important to keep the other laws of nature intact. By keeping the rest of the story completely believable, the writer makes the viewer want to believe that the one thing he sees that seems to break the rules is still real.
Despite that (which is admittedly my pet peeve in action and sci-fi movies), I though this movie stood up well next to its two predecessors. In fact, I'm betting that there will be an S4. I can only imagine what they'll think up for that one.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Programming tidbits
Ever wanted to upload or download files via FTP inside of your own program?
http://www.codeproject.com/vb/net/FtpClient.asp
I found this today, and it works perfectly for a custom project I'm doing. No way was I going to manually download 20,000 images, scale them, and upload the resulting 60,000 files!
http://www.codeproject.com/vb/net/FtpClient.asp
I found this today, and it works perfectly for a custom project I'm doing. No way was I going to manually download 20,000 images, scale them, and upload the resulting 60,000 files!
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