This is how I roll...(Spoiler: nerd alert)

It seems like the holiday season is the ideal time to fix your relative's and friend's PC/Tech related problems. Being an early adopter of technology, I usually have a story about something.

So, in an effort to archive some of my favorite tools and insights I am listing my favorite apps, websites and tools that I use throughout my day, which involves a bike commute, office and school. I hope you haven't heard of some of these things and you can find them useful in your routine. If I have missed something put it in the comments.

The Work Office

Some of the key elements of the office at work are the dual floating monitors, wireless keyboard and mouse. The rest is your basic office, and I won't bore you with my filing habits and methods. Here are the websites, software and things that are useful between the hours of 8am 5pm:

XMarks -This is a nice little plug-in for FireFox that syncs and saves your bookmarks between various computers. Comes in really handy.
Reader - Some people read the newspaper every morning, I scroll through my favorite sites for news and info. Plus its much quicker to read. Reader also has a great search feature to find past articles.
Evernote (Tip) - I am still working with Evernote and haven't fully incorporated it, but have found it can be useful depending on your
Chrome - Most companies have online expense reporting, AP, etc. websites that you need to go through and using IE is way slower. I find Google Chrome to be the best way to speed through this process. That is, if you can install it past the corporate firewall.

Portable Apps- Apps for USB drive. This can be a nice little work around when I need an app, that I am unable to download through the evil corporate firewall, nor do I have the time to call IT and explain my situation.

The Home Office

My home-office, again is nothing special but it works for school, work and fun. The main points of this room are multiple CAT 6e, COAX and Electrical plugs. Which I thought of while wiring this room. Dual-Monitor Linux and Windows set-ups, and a nicely organized cable cluster.

The Web

Here are my most used apps and websites that usually turn to when helping someone out with a project or problem. If you haven't heard of them, check them out. They are all free too!
Firefox-Customizable browser
XMarks-Firefox plug in for bookmark sync
Gmail Notifier-Firefox plugin
AVG or Avast-Antivirus
Twitter-no explanation nessecary
Pidgin-Open source IM

LogMeIn-Remote PC log in (Great for tech support)

Lifehacker - Great website for a lot of stuff. The name sums it up.

Google
YouTube-Video Sharing
Google Docs-A nice place to back up documents.
SketchUp Example Design you house remodel
Picasa-Quick Photo editor and manager

WAVE- The future in collaboration?

Apps
OpenOffice -Free alternative to Microsoft
VLC -Media Player
Evernote -Document manager Tip

Cloud
DropBox- (Cloud back up and sync)
2GDocs -Open Office extension
Flickr -(Photo sharing and back up)


Mobility
IronKey -If James Bond had a USB drive it would be this one.
PenDrive Linux - Linux for USB sticks.

YouMail- Customize and manage your Voice Mail.

Google Voice- Like YouMail, but tied to Google. I ended going back to YouMail for now.

Not as customizable as YouMail, but also easier in some ways.

Linux/OpenSource
Ubuntu- My personal favorite Linux version.
GIMP- Photo Shop alternative

61 Apps We are Thankful For (Lifehacker)

The Bag
This doesn't really have anything to do with the post, but it's a part of my commute and what I tote along for little fixes, in a bind. I am not sure this bag is fully considered my man purse, but it definitely goes with me wherever I go. I decided to layout everything I had in it, mainly to see what I was carrying around, and to show some of the things I can't leave home without. These items are also a definition of my nerd-ness.

The items:

Camera Case

MP3 Player

Tripod

BA-II Plus

Check Book - Who uses these things these days?

Wet Ones

Cellphone Case and phone

change

Bike tool

USB drives

Cat 5e, USB, Audio

Sewing Kit

Camera Charger
Flickr Moo Cards

Chapstick

Plastic

Mints

Glasses

Keys

A/V Cable

Wallet

Business cards

Pens

hand gel

cuff links

Spare phone battery

nail clippers

power adapters

MP3 charger

CES 2008

It came and went again this year, and I survived to tell about it. For the past 3 years (2006 , 2007 ) Brandon and I have been taking CES by storm and each year is full of new goodies and stories as you will see if you read the past re-caps. But as usual it was a lot of fun, walking and plenty of free useless junk. Except for a few items such as the Jawbone Blue tooth Headset which we picked up! Even though there wasn't a whole lot to write about that was especially awesome and new it was still cool to see all the companies new things and different technologies which are pretty much already out. The Flickr Pics if you are so inclined.

I am a freakin' Ninja

Thanks to Lifehacker I have successfully transformed an out of date XBOX into a UNIX Powered media center. Next to hacking into my neighbors wi-fi and changing their password--this is the coolest thing I have done in my geek world. Basically this setup enables me to access my pictures, movies and music from my home network and watch them on my theater. I can also play any of my 900+ Old School Nintendo games like Mario, Excite Bike and Super Contra on it as well, through the emulator which are available online. This linux variation still lets me play Xbox games and watch DVD's as well. Using the DVD2Box program I can download any DVD onto the Xbox hard drive for later viewing or to be politically correct, as a "back-up". I have attached the main link for this write-up and some pictures for those interested. If you are serious about doing this then contact me, because I have some other links and info that may save you some time and money while doing this.
LATEZ.


My networked music and pictures.

Geekin' IT

Even though I am really good looking, socially talented and really athletic (That was a joke--Insert laugh here). You might be surprised that I am constantly trying prove to myself that I am geekier than I really am. And for that reason in honor of this post I am writing this blog on my Linux PC which I built and is currently running the latest version of Feisty Fawn 7.04. I must say that if Microsoft were to self-destruct tomorrow, I am pretty confident that I could go on in both my business, social and tech lifestyle just fine. I have really been amazed with everything that Linux (ubuntu) has to offer. Keep in mind that there are somethings that just don't work with Linux like my Smartphone, GPS, and some others, but it is pretty cool. It never freezes, and can perform great on stripped down systems. I have posted some screen shots of my desktop running on Beryl, which is pretty cool if you ask me. This can do stuff that Vista can only do with at least a 256MB dedicated video card and 2GB of RAM.

Anyways, that is my 2 cents on Linux. Now I'm not talking throw out the Windows PC, but if you have the chance, give Linux a try. I personally just like the Ubuntu version, because it is really easy.

So, if you are interested in trying Linux, I recommend find an older PC you don't use anymore and just install it. You have nothing to lose at that point. Let me know what you think.

"GEEK IT TILL IT Mhz!"

Where Have I Been?

Things have been crazy lately and thus my blogging abilities are slacking. Here is the run down for those who care:

1. Found yesterday we are having a girl! More to come on that subject.
2. Went to Houston last week. For work. Never been before, had a good time. Check this out from a crazy thunderstorm I watched from my hotel balcony. (I froze the frames from a video clip.) I also got struck in Dallas for a night coming home, that sucked and is a story for another time.
3, Music update: One of my favorite bands is getting ready for the release of their second album.
4. Concert update: Went to the Plus 44/Fall Out Boy concert last week. Pretty awesome. (See Pic Below)

5. We are going to Hawaii next week. More to come on that.
6. Work is crazy now.
7. Buster is have shaven right now, due to a tramatic day at the groomers yesterday. I will post a pic of the "White Lion" later.
8. That is all for now.

I know I did not form complete sentences with this posting using my normal thoroughness, and amazing abilites to capitivate your mind, but it is the best your getting tonight.

Latez.

MOO!

I finally got my MOO cards in the mail. To learn about MOO cards click here. I made my cards via my Flickr photos. They are quite the phenomena and are very nice quality. All the cards are of pictures I took. You may be reading this blog because of my MOO card. If not, then next time you see me ask for one!

That's all!

My Theater

Being a novice into the home theater arena, I gotta say that I think I did a pretty good job creating this room for under $700. It all started when I check The Woot one night. They had the InFocus projetor priced at $600 with a $200 mail-in rebate. What can I say...I had to do it. I then went and bought a Pioneer 5.1 Progressive Scan DVD Player. As I got it all set up and looking good, all I needed now was the screen. After a trip to the fabric store and $15 later, I went to Home Depot and got some wood for the frame. A little stapling and then hanging the screen--I was in business!
What I just said made it sound very easy. Now don't get me wrong it wasn't very difficult but all that took an entire weekend to do.
Here are the pics-






























You may be asking, "Is that a cutting board in the ceiling?" The answer is Yes. You would be surprised at how good those things work for drilling and screwing things into them. It was less noticable than wood and it is just as strong too.


With that said, I'll let you know when we have movie night.

CES 2007

It's that time again this year. The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. We just finished the first day and it was really cool. It was mostly stuff similar to last year, it was just better and some extra add-ons. Here are a couple pics from stuff today. I'll post more and give a better run down of what happened.

The VZ fan boys aren't going to like this...

The "Verizon fan boys" out there...I know what you are thinking, but you know what? I did it anyways. After much thought and analysis, I bought the T-Mobile Dash. And I love it. I had it narrowed down between the Pearl and this. I thought that the Windows Mobile 5.0 would be better to sync up with Outlook and my e-mails. So far no regrets. I have been using this phone now for 1 week and despite a few personal prefrences, I am happy with this choice. Not to mention the buzz this phone creates when you answer a call. So Ryan, I am sorry that you had to find out this way, but the Q and Verizon's rates were no match for T-Mobile and the Dash.

TRIVIAL GEEK INFO

In an effort to keep my blog a time wasting tool for my readers I thought I would show you all the newest edition to my i-POD Killa Arsenal. It is a skin I picked up on eBay for my Creative Labs Zen Vision:M. Keep in mind that I got this for only 8 bucks! Not a bad deal.