Today, I was happy to find that for a mere $13 I could hook up my laptop to my HDTV!
Sound and picture work seamlessly. Specifically, instead of the sound coming though the laptop's built in speakers, it's transmitted to the HDTV via the earphone plug. The picture connection is via the laptop's built in monitor plug.
The connection is via a product called an HD15 (SVGA) Male + 3.5 Stereo Male at both ends. I bought it via Amazon.com.
To be precise, this cable doesn't work as is for my laptop. It works for Mary's laptop. The reason is this—the sound connection is part of the picture connection; to put it another way, they're on the same cable. As such, it requires that the distance from your laptop's earplug connection to its monitor connection be about 12". On my laptop, that's not the case (at least not cleanly). On Mary's it is.
That said, I can remedy it easily by buying an extension cord for the earplug connection. No biggie.
The payoff for this effort is this—now we can watch Netflix and Hulu.com on TV instead of exclusively on a laptop monitor. Nice!
Showing posts with label Technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Technology. Show all posts
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Friday, May 16, 2008
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Tips for Older IT Workers
Fellow 50+ IT folks, check this out. While it includes what should be obvious to any good IT worker ("Never stop learning"), it makes some suggestions I hadn't considered ("Teach a course").
This article includes a link to a couple of techie blogs, one of which is adorned with a cute subtitle—"News for nerds".
Food for thought...and action.
This article includes a link to a couple of techie blogs, one of which is adorned with a cute subtitle—"News for nerds".
Food for thought...and action.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Wi-Fi Rookie
I'm happy to report that I'm now on the Wi-Fi bandwagon. Mary already has it working at her place. I spent a tedious but ultimately fruitful afternoon getting it to work at my own place.
If you haven't already heard, Wi-Fi is an acronym for wireless fidelity. What it means to a techie homebody like me is this—no wires to connect to the internet!
Now, my place is not big. Still, I like the option of being able to watch a movie on my laptop in bed and quickly switch to IMDB.com to learn a little more about a particular actor or get a quick update on the Red Sox.
More importantly, my place can be much neater now that it's not dependent on the odd location (the middle of the kitchen wall!) of my internet connection. Instead, I can park my netgear there and have my computer elsewhere. Ahhhh.
Since I'm geeking out here, let me sing the praises of NetGear. This will include a discordant note about Linksys.
Today, I tried to use Linksys for the second time. The first time, over a year ago, the Linksys router simply died on me after less than a year. Back then, I had no interest in using it as a wireless device. I simply pulled cables into it.
This time, I tried to go wireless with it. It took me through a long installation process only to end up killing my internet connection.
Rubbing salt in the wound was Best Buy, from whom I had purchased the router. The salesman told me it would cost $50 to get it set up if I had any trouble. So, off I went to my home to do the set up. Wasted hours and another road trip later, the guy at the Geek Squad desk said help would cost me well over $150. I don't think it was a bait and switch but it felt like one. More likely, the sales guy just screwed up. In any event, I was not happy. End of sale. Gimme my money back.
On the way home, I decided to give Staples a try. It was a long shot, since local Staples help, especially on techie stuff can be spotty. But, then, it's spotty everywhere. Genuinely good techs are hard to find. Lo and behold, I found one!
Given my bad luck with Linksys, I opted for Netgear. This time, I got another failure message but immediately. This was, oddly enough, progress. This made it clear that the installation CD was messed up. Specifically, the message was "Ethernet card defective"—that is, the card with which I was able to connect to the internet successfully without Netgear.
So, on another long shot, I call the Netgear support line. Wonder of wonders, I got a live person in under 5 minutes! Her Indian accent was a little thick and hard to decipher at times but that was minor compared to this all important fact—she knew her stuff!
In short order, she had me toss out the CD. That was replaced with a Netgear site that worked directly with my Netgear router. She guided me expertly through the setup steps successfully.
As a bonus, she helped me secure the Wi-Fi network so my neighbors couldn't tap into it. For this, Best Buy was going to charge me $150...on top of the $100+ for the hardware. Instead, Netgear handed me the knowledge gratis, as an integal part of the router installation.
So, in my book, Netgear rocks! Linksys? Not so much. Best Buy? From now on, I'll give Staples the first shot.
P.S., For $25, I was able to connect an old, pre-Wi-Fi era computer to Mary's Wi-Fi network. This gadget the size of some new car keys plugs into a USB port and voilà—wireless internet connection! Nice!
If you haven't already heard, Wi-Fi is an acronym for wireless fidelity. What it means to a techie homebody like me is this—no wires to connect to the internet!
Now, my place is not big. Still, I like the option of being able to watch a movie on my laptop in bed and quickly switch to IMDB.com to learn a little more about a particular actor or get a quick update on the Red Sox.
More importantly, my place can be much neater now that it's not dependent on the odd location (the middle of the kitchen wall!) of my internet connection. Instead, I can park my netgear there and have my computer elsewhere. Ahhhh.
Since I'm geeking out here, let me sing the praises of NetGear. This will include a discordant note about Linksys.
Today, I tried to use Linksys for the second time. The first time, over a year ago, the Linksys router simply died on me after less than a year. Back then, I had no interest in using it as a wireless device. I simply pulled cables into it.
This time, I tried to go wireless with it. It took me through a long installation process only to end up killing my internet connection.
Rubbing salt in the wound was Best Buy, from whom I had purchased the router. The salesman told me it would cost $50 to get it set up if I had any trouble. So, off I went to my home to do the set up. Wasted hours and another road trip later, the guy at the Geek Squad desk said help would cost me well over $150. I don't think it was a bait and switch but it felt like one. More likely, the sales guy just screwed up. In any event, I was not happy. End of sale. Gimme my money back.
On the way home, I decided to give Staples a try. It was a long shot, since local Staples help, especially on techie stuff can be spotty. But, then, it's spotty everywhere. Genuinely good techs are hard to find. Lo and behold, I found one!
Given my bad luck with Linksys, I opted for Netgear. This time, I got another failure message but immediately. This was, oddly enough, progress. This made it clear that the installation CD was messed up. Specifically, the message was "Ethernet card defective"—that is, the card with which I was able to connect to the internet successfully without Netgear.
So, on another long shot, I call the Netgear support line. Wonder of wonders, I got a live person in under 5 minutes! Her Indian accent was a little thick and hard to decipher at times but that was minor compared to this all important fact—she knew her stuff!
In short order, she had me toss out the CD. That was replaced with a Netgear site that worked directly with my Netgear router. She guided me expertly through the setup steps successfully.
As a bonus, she helped me secure the Wi-Fi network so my neighbors couldn't tap into it. For this, Best Buy was going to charge me $150...on top of the $100+ for the hardware. Instead, Netgear handed me the knowledge gratis, as an integal part of the router installation.
So, in my book, Netgear rocks! Linksys? Not so much. Best Buy? From now on, I'll give Staples the first shot.
P.S., For $25, I was able to connect an old, pre-Wi-Fi era computer to Mary's Wi-Fi network. This gadget the size of some new car keys plugs into a USB port and voilà—wireless internet connection! Nice!
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Brooklyn Bridge
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This romantized view of the Brooklyn Bridge is a fitting image for my recommendation that you read The Great Bridge by David McCullough.
Like the bridge's web of suspension cables, rich human stories are woven into it as well, deeper than the cables' roots in the bedrock under the twin gothic towers. To really see the bridge, read this book. Look at the spirit of man in action.
By man, I don't just mean men, of course. A key player in this epic story is Emily Roebling, chief engineer Washington Roebling's wife. Without her, it's not the same bridge. Look at how she saved the day after her husband is striken with what we now know as the bends but was then a complete mystery. Look at how she is honored at the completion of the bridge.
Look at the fragile, dramatic nature of history as Washington Roebling survives the battle at Gettysburg and ends up as the bridge's chief engineer, effectively finishing the design from memory!
Look especially at the injustice hurled at Roebling by the press. Then, contrast that to the tepid reaction to the glaring fraud committed against Roebling and the cities of Brooklyn and New York. Then, consider who we honor today when we visit the bridge.
Look at the backdrop of the bridge's creation, featuring the rise and fall of Tammany Hall.
Look at the unknown heroes who contributed to the building of the bridge and, in effect, New York City's first skyscrapers.
Look at all this and more. Then, look again at the bridge. See not just the landmark but the spirit it represents, the spirit we need to embrace to build even greater achievements now and for the future.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
The Best of Two Worlds?
What, pray tell, was I shopping for in the mall, a friend asks? A computer, a laptop to be precise.
A long time Windows user (but not a Windows "bigot"), I wanted to see if I could reasonably straddle the technical fence between Windows and Mac. My interest has been piqued by news of Apple's Boot Camp and third-party software named Parallels.
So, I walked into West Farms Apple store to ask a salesman about it. He wanted to sell me a laptop, of course, but he steered me away with the report that Boot Camp is still in beta. He couldn't speak to Parallels. His main point was approach this option carefully, if at all. The concept is still new.
That's enough to put me off Mac for a while. My livelihood is based on the Windows world. I have no problem with the Mac world. In fact, I was sorely tempted by the excellent quality of the Mac Pro diplays.
If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, I welcome them. In the meantime, it looks like I'll have to stick with the Windows world and buy a laptop suited to it.
A long time Windows user (but not a Windows "bigot"), I wanted to see if I could reasonably straddle the technical fence between Windows and Mac. My interest has been piqued by news of Apple's Boot Camp and third-party software named Parallels.
So, I walked into West Farms Apple store to ask a salesman about it. He wanted to sell me a laptop, of course, but he steered me away with the report that Boot Camp is still in beta. He couldn't speak to Parallels. His main point was approach this option carefully, if at all. The concept is still new.
That's enough to put me off Mac for a while. My livelihood is based on the Windows world. I have no problem with the Mac world. In fact, I was sorely tempted by the excellent quality of the Mac Pro diplays.
If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, I welcome them. In the meantime, it looks like I'll have to stick with the Windows world and buy a laptop suited to it.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Joel on Software
Techies and rational epistemologists, check this out—
www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000018.html. A colleague brought the article by Joel Spolsky to my attention. Spolsky is sharp!
His article's first paragraph covers the basic pattern of abstraction. At the same time, it shows the danger of abstracting without anchoring your abstractions to reality—i.e., you get "really vague and nobody really knows what they're talking about any more."
Spolsky does a good job of clearly summarizing the type of nonsense that is commonly inflicted not only on good programmers but also laypeople trying to purchase their services.
My favorite excerpts follow:
www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000018.html. A colleague brought the article by Joel Spolsky to my attention. Spolsky is sharp!
His article's first paragraph covers the basic pattern of abstraction. At the same time, it shows the danger of abstracting without anchoring your abstractions to reality—i.e., you get "really vague and nobody really knows what they're talking about any more."
Spolsky does a good job of clearly summarizing the type of nonsense that is commonly inflicted not only on good programmers but also laypeople trying to purchase their services.
My favorite excerpts follow:
That's one sure tip-off to the fact that you're being assaulted by an Architecture Astronaut: the incredible amount of bombast; the heroic, utopian grandiloquence; the boastfulness; the complete lack of reality. And people buy it! The business press goes wild!
It's nice that we can use XML now for the format on the wire. Whoopee. But that's about as interesting to me as learning that my supermarket uses trucks to get things from the warehouse. Yawn. Mangos, that's interesting. Tell me something new that I can do that I couldn't do before, O Astronauts, or stay up there in space and don't waste any more of my time.P.S., I'm impressed enough with Spolsky to add his article archive to my list of favorite links.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
New Computer
One reason for my recent long absence from my blog was a tedious computer problem. Explorer kept vanishing from my screen. It was inexplicable...and a royal pain in the ass—e.g., right in the middle of typing a blog entry and...poof...all gone.
I'm sure a technical reason lurked somewhere under the covers but I chose not to invest the time to investigate.
Instead, I opted to buy a new tower. They're so relatively cheap these days it was simpler to add the tower to my station. Of course, I had to buy an A/B switch so I could toggle back and forth between my old and new computers. That plus a 60 GB external drive and a memory stick also are helping with my migration from my old to new tower.
When that's done, I'll reformat the hard drive of the old computer and rebuild it. While I usually give my old computers to a relative, I may hang onto this one to test out ideas for my career in software development.
That said, check out this contrast:
The key for me is not the hardware itself but what it'll do for me—saving me time instead of eating up my time. Though a hardcore technician, I keep crystal clear this distinction: technology serves man, not the other way around.
I'm sure a technical reason lurked somewhere under the covers but I chose not to invest the time to investigate.
Instead, I opted to buy a new tower. They're so relatively cheap these days it was simpler to add the tower to my station. Of course, I had to buy an A/B switch so I could toggle back and forth between my old and new computers. That plus a 60 GB external drive and a memory stick also are helping with my migration from my old to new tower.
When that's done, I'll reformat the hard drive of the old computer and rebuild it. While I usually give my old computers to a relative, I may hang onto this one to test out ideas for my career in software development.
That said, check out this contrast:
- old PC: 40 GB hard drive
- new PC: 100 GB hard drive
The key for me is not the hardware itself but what it'll do for me—saving me time instead of eating up my time. Though a hardcore technician, I keep crystal clear this distinction: technology serves man, not the other way around.
iPod Shuffle Rocks!
Last night, I bought an iPod shuffle. Today was my first full use of it—at the office where I use it as a "firewall" against the chatter of my cubicle neighbors. Now, I'm here singing its praises.
This tiny little thing rocks! It's size is about 1 mere square inch. It's sturdy enough to withstand the normal dings and drops it'll inevitably encounter. Its battery has blessedly lasted all day. Of course, none of this would matter if the sound quality was awful. But, happily, the sound quality is just as good as that delivered by it's older brother, the iPod Mini.
I bought the shuffle ($80) because my iPod mini is not working right now. Its nearly 2 year old battery finally gave up the ghost.
Yesterday was the first time in ages I worked at my desk without the benefit of a sonic wall between me and my neighbors. Horrors! ;^) Anywho, that was enough to motivate to buy a musical lifeboat to tide me over until my iPod mini gets its battery replaced (gotta ship it and wait a week or two).
I also opted to buy a 2 year extended coverage contract for $20. Coverage includes, among other things, the battery wearing out (free replacement). Since I'm plugged into this day in and day out, that was an easy decision for me.
Once again, I say bless the capitalists who made this possible!
This tiny little thing rocks! It's size is about 1 mere square inch. It's sturdy enough to withstand the normal dings and drops it'll inevitably encounter. Its battery has blessedly lasted all day. Of course, none of this would matter if the sound quality was awful. But, happily, the sound quality is just as good as that delivered by it's older brother, the iPod Mini.
I bought the shuffle ($80) because my iPod mini is not working right now. Its nearly 2 year old battery finally gave up the ghost.
Yesterday was the first time in ages I worked at my desk without the benefit of a sonic wall between me and my neighbors. Horrors! ;^) Anywho, that was enough to motivate to buy a musical lifeboat to tide me over until my iPod mini gets its battery replaced (gotta ship it and wait a week or two).
I also opted to buy a 2 year extended coverage contract for $20. Coverage includes, among other things, the battery wearing out (free replacement). Since I'm plugged into this day in and day out, that was an easy decision for me.
Once again, I say bless the capitalists who made this possible!
Friday, January 19, 2007
It's a bird, it's a plane, it's...it's...a man!
Check this out— http://www.jet-man.com/actuel_eng.html.
Apart from the obvious question "How on earth did he do that!?" is this question: "When will this amazing gizmo be featured in a James Bond movie?"
Apart from the obvious question "How on earth did he do that!?" is this question: "When will this amazing gizmo be featured in a James Bond movie?"
Monday, November 13, 2006
Span the globe at the click of a button
Check this out -- http://www.flashearth.com/
It's a fascinating accomplishment. It allows you to zoom in and out of any place on the planet.
It's a fascinating accomplishment. It allows you to zoom in and out of any place on the planet.
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Skype Rules!
If you are not already familiar with Skype, here's the deal. It's a way to talk to friends literally anywhere in the world for free!
How? I have no idea how, precisely. I just know that if you have a DSL or cable connection (much faster than dial-up) to the internet you can take advantage of this freebie by going to http://www.skype.com and downloading their free software. They'll spell out for you how to proceed from there.
Note: You'll also need to buy or find a microphone for your computer. They're cheap -- something like $10 or less. You'll get that value back with one free "phone" call to anyone in the world.
So far, I've used Skype to talk to my friend, Barry, in London and Istanbul. The sound quality is excellent -- his as well as Skype's. :^)
Don't forget the part about it being free. It fits right in with my "life is good" theme!
How? I have no idea how, precisely. I just know that if you have a DSL or cable connection (much faster than dial-up) to the internet you can take advantage of this freebie by going to http://www.skype.com and downloading their free software. They'll spell out for you how to proceed from there.
Note: You'll also need to buy or find a microphone for your computer. They're cheap -- something like $10 or less. You'll get that value back with one free "phone" call to anyone in the world.
So far, I've used Skype to talk to my friend, Barry, in London and Istanbul. The sound quality is excellent -- his as well as Skype's. :^)
Don't forget the part about it being free. It fits right in with my "life is good" theme!
Portable Storage
Used my first portable storage unit, a 60 GB Maxtor OneTouch III. It's too small for what I need but the price was right for experimentation purposes.
This is cool technology -- simple, cheap and it works. That is, it's like a memory stick but much bigger. Like a memory stick, it's true plug and play. Just connect it to a USB port and go.
It doesn't even need a separate power supply. Evidently, the storage unit works off the PC's power. Amazing! Bless the capitalist men and women who made this possible!
Now that I see how well and easily this works, I'll buy a bigger unit to backup my PC, especially my treasured iPod music!
This is cool technology -- simple, cheap and it works. That is, it's like a memory stick but much bigger. Like a memory stick, it's true plug and play. Just connect it to a USB port and go.
It doesn't even need a separate power supply. Evidently, the storage unit works off the PC's power. Amazing! Bless the capitalist men and women who made this possible!
Now that I see how well and easily this works, I'll buy a bigger unit to backup my PC, especially my treasured iPod music!
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