Friday, January 23, 2009

PS3 Media Server

Streaming 1080p mkv files to a Playstation 3 is a pain in the butt. What’s worse is that Sony doesn’t really make a decent program to do it.

Someone pointed me to the appropriately named PS3 Media Server, which does just that. You install it on your computer, turn on your Playstation 3, run the program, and then use the PS3 to access all sorts of files.

The program essentially converts the media files to something the PS3 can read and then plays them on your big screen. The encoding is on the fly with a small buffer.

Quality is about the same as my popcorn hour A-110.

The only problem is that you probably need a good computer for high bit rate 1080p files. My little ole’ computer wasn’t strong enough to convert the 1080p files on the fly so my video had ugly stuttering after a few minutes even though I’m running a wired network.

The PS3 Media Server can be downloaded here for free.

Here's the blog.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Seeing is Believing Will Just Hold You Back

Evolution has equipped our brains with a very protective and extremely useful concept of “seeing is believing.” Skepticism has kept many of our ancestors alive and without it, many us would be dead. For example, if someone says a mushroom is safe to eat, we may or may not believe him. If though that same person picks up the mushroom and actually eats it, many people would feel comfortable doing the same.

The problem with people is that have extended this same mushroom skepticism to just about everything. Nobody is willing to take a chance or try something unless someone else can either vouch for it or will guarantee success.

On www.rsdnation.com, there’s a forum thread about wanting to see video of instructors “running it.” Some of the guys even demanded to see videos and refused to believe anything until they saw it with their own eyes.

Then one person posted this:


It made me realize that it doesn’t matter if the instructor can or cannot do what he is teaching. Do I really need to see an instructor succeed for me to succeed? No. Just the same as I knew that my business class teacher in college couldn’t run a business, that didn’t prevent me from learning.

Too many guys place artificial obstacles in their path to success; forcing a teacher to have success is just one of them. There’s no good reason why such an obstacle should exist unless someone is picking mushrooms off the ground.

Moreover, what if the instructor or teacher cannot actually do what he teachers? So what. Everything that has ever been done first was always done without a youtube video.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

We Have a New Leader Today

Obama went to my school. In light of this momentous occasion I present two youtube videos:



Friday Night Lights


Friday Night Lights is one of my favorite TV shows. Season 3 is completely bitching. If this show gets cancelled, I’m blaming you. Set your Tivo’s for Friday Night, 8pm, NBC.

Also, I <3 Minka Kelly.


2009 Can Lick My Nutzzz

I knew 2009 would be rough when I woke up on the first with the biggest hangover I’ve ever had. You know a hangover is really bad when you did even have any alcohol the night before; yes an alcohol-less hangover.

Let’s rewind, so I stayed up all night on new year’s eve and watched the sunrise in the bitter rain—it was actually more enjoyable than you’re thinking.

I got home in the blaring sunlight, crashed into my bed . . . and couldn’t sleep for a while. I then surfed the internet and that put me to sleep.

Two hours and seven minutes later I woke up in pain. “Awww fuck 2009 is gonna suck” I said to myself.

I drank a big ass glass of water, took some magic Chinese green pills, a shot of airborne, two Advils, and went back to sleep.

I woke up chipper like a puppy and watched the Big 10 team get their assess handed to them in the Rose Bowl for like, the eighty-third time in a row. It was so bad I didn’t even bother watching the second half. Fuc SC!! Actually, fuc Pete Carroll. Actually, fuc every NFL team for not offering Pete Carroll a boatload of cash he just can’t refuse. Like I said, 2009 started off really bad.

A few days later, I come home and there’s a two-inch hole in my kitchen window screen. So if you aren’t growing your own tomatoes, you’re really missing out (yes this does relate to the window screen). Well I do and cherry tomatoes are “teh shit”. Up until sometime after 1/1/09, I USED TO put my cherry tomatoes in a little bowl by the window. Well, one day I came home and there was a two inch hole in the window screen and ALL of my cherry tomatoes were missing. I didn’t even know rats were that persistent.

Now losing cherry tomatoes isn’t a big deal; they do essentially “grow on trees.” What sucked was the big hole. Modern houses have easily replaceable screens. You pull out the spine, put a new screen in, stretch that screen, and push the spine back in. It’s not an easy thing to do, but it doesn’t require being a journeyman. Well, my house is old so there aren't any screen spines. My screens are nailed to the frame with wood covering the frames. Some smart person also decided to paint over the seals and the nails. Like I said, 2009 started off really bad.

The next day I’m waiting for the missus and cleaning the inside of my car windows. Lo and behold there’s a crack on my windshield. Apparently, in the rock v. front windshield cage match my car lost. Like I said, 2009 started off really bad.

I tried using one of those $10 windshield repair kits and it wouldn’t work because the crack is not on the top later of glass. Like I said, 2009 started off really bad.

Aight, so I’m ready go all out nuclear on my 2009 voodoo. I’m going to take my car for window repair and fix that crack before it becomes the grand canyon running across the front of my car. I also patched up the window screen with replacement screen and super glue and it looks aight. Lastly, I bought rat poison tablets and spread it all around my yard: “die mutha fakas die!!!”

Monday, January 5, 2009

Free Alcohol

Just because I don’t drink doesn’t mean that I have something against other people drinking. Rather, I encourage other people to drink; I think it makes people comfortable with the concept of me not drinking. Your beer is for you and my beer is for you.

What really fascinates me is the amount of money I actually save from not drinking. Aside from the many times I have managed bat my eyelashes in exchange for free soda, my bar tabs have been astonishingly cheap. It’s not uncommon for me to go out and not hit the minimum credit card level if I’m not buying drinks for my friends.

Conversely, getting free alcohol requires more than just heavy flirting. One way to find out where has cheap or free drinks is www.myopenbar.com which shockingly has a Honolulu edition in addition to New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, and Miami sites. It feels good that Honolulu is among such good alcoholic company.

click here for the Honolulu myopenbar.com page.

Friday, January 2, 2009

Japan and My Pictures

I went to Japan a while ago and these are some of the weird things I saw:

I thought this was funny because there were so many no bicycle parking signs.


I too wish I had BIG flowstones.

This is the entrance to a store.

I think this is a police station at the top of a mountain.


ORLY.

A pink boat.

This is a door stop. The lower left is a picture of how to use it. I love the expression on the thing's face, especially when it's pinned under a door.