ShowMeBlog

Amazon selling Windows 7

  I just got an email that Amazon is now selling Windows 7.  You get 50% off if you order now.  Supply is limited and release date is October 22, 2009.
  I have not read all the details yet I just got the email.  It looks like the three below are the full retail price.

  Now those prices are if you are  not up-grading.  Here is the prices and details if you are doing an up-grade. One of them is a dis-count of 58%.

  I am using Windows 7 RC right now and it is excellent.  My feeling is that this is the first version of Windows that works. I started out using DOS and have used OS/2 and Windows from the start.
  I have never used Apple OS.

The Disposable Film Festival

Disposable Film Fest '09 Promo from Disposable Film Festival on Vimeo.

  This seems like a great idea. 
Their site is:  The Disposable Film Festival

The deadline for 2010 is August 31, 2009.  They are going to have prizes.  Submission must be under 10 minutes.  Details at their site. 
  I will post the winners here on ShowMeBlog and Howard’s Notebook when they announce them.  It looks like it will be fun.

mobiReady

  I found a neat site called mobiReady.

 
    You can check a page or a site and see how they score a site on how well it will display on a mobile device.
     Now I have been told that ShowMeBlog shows up very well on smart phones.  I know it looks good on my cell phone.  So I did the check and they report that ShowMeBlog will “definitely display very poorly on a mobile phone.” They rate for Readiness, Size, Estimated Cost and Estimated Speed. 

    I then checked Howard’s Notebook and it was about the same as ShowMeBlog.  It had a Score of .92, Size of 298.82k and Speed of 1.58s on WiFi and 3G speed of 17.60s.  Now the GPRS speed was 74.44s.
   I had never checked Howard’s Notebook on my cell phone which is 3G but I have never seen a 3G connection with it.  It loaded pretty fast but it was still loading things but I could view the page.
  So I am not sure how correct the mobiReady site is with their testing.  But they look like a neat site.
  Since so many people are doing stuff on their iPhones and other devices I will be looking to see what I can do to improve my two sites.

Windows 7 beta shutting down every two hours now

  If you are using Windows 7 beta today it will start shutting down every two hours.  So you need to go and download Windows 7 RC.
  I am using Windows 7 RC and it is excellent.

The Sarychev Peak Eruption – Kuril Islands

  I saw this on TV the other day.  I have heard people talking about it.  A friend, Dick, just sent me a link for the photo.  So take a look at what people are talking about.

“A fortuitous orbit of the International Space Station allowed the astronauts this striking view of Sarychev Volcano (Kuril Islands, northeast of Japan) in an early stage of eruption on June 12, 2009. Sarychev Peak is one of the most active volcanoes in the Kuril Island chain, and it is located on the northwestern end of Matua Island. Prior to June 12, the last explosive eruption occurred in 1989, with eruptions in 1986, 1976, 1954, and 1946 also producing lava flows. Ash from the multi-day eruption has been detected 2,407 kilometers east-southeast and 926 kilometers west-northwest of the volcano, and commercial airline flights are being diverted away from the region to minimize the danger of engine failures from ash intake…”   NASA Photo

BBS: The Documentary – Part 1 Baud

“The BBS Documentary by Jason Scott Licensed under Creative Commons Description: The BBS documentary part 1 baud [at lower resolution) In the Summer of 2001, Jason Scott, a computer historian (and proprietor of the textfiles.com history site) wondered if anyone had made a film about these BBSes. They hadn't, so he decided he would. Four years, thousands of miles of travelling, and over 200 interviews later, "BBS: The Documentary", a mini-series of 8 episodes about the history of the BBS, is now available. Spanning 3 DVDs and totalling five and a half hours, this documentary is actually eight documentaries about different aspects of this important story in the annals of computer history. * Baud introduces the story of the beginning of the BBS, including interviews with Ward Christensen and Randy Suess, who used a snowstorm as an inspiration to change the world. Among the features of this documentary: * 5 and a half hours of episodes * Over 80 minutes of bonus footage * Commentary Tracks and Statements by Jason Scott * Easter Eggs * Subtitles on all Episodes and Footage * Region-Free DVDS (Play them anywhere) * No Copy Protection, CSS or Macrovision * Licensed under Creative Commons * DVD-ROM Section with: o Thousands of photos o Additional audio interviews o Speeches by Jason Scott and guests”

  This video is 38 minutes long just so you will know.  It is only part 1 of the documentary.

BBS: The Documentary

   Here is a little ten minute sample of “BBS: The Documentary.”

 

 

A brief collection of clips from one of the best documentaries of geekdom ever made. Purchase the boxed set over at http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/

BBS: The Documentary Photos

  Jason Scott made “BBS: The Documentary” between July of 2001 to December of 2004.  He filmed it using a Canon XL-1.  He visited 30 states and one Canadian province.  He shot roughly 250 hours of video.  He interviewed 205 people.
  I was one of the people that he interviewed.  He came to Texas and took over 2 hours of video of me.  Of course only a very little of that shows up in the documentary. 
  One day that entire video will be on the Internet so after I am long gone someone can do research and use that interview and they can check and get information from the other entire 204 interviews.
  Jason Scott made a great documentary but he also has saved the history of bulletin board systems and created a great database of information that will be long after we all gone.

  He also took 11 photos when he interviewed me with a digital camera.  I do not think I have ever posted them all.  You may have seen a few of them.  I think it is about time for you to see them all.

 

View Full Album

DVT Transition Brings WWL to toronto

“Analog shutoff, atmospheric conditions spur phenomenal distant-market reception for New Orleans, other local stations

By Glen Dickson -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/15/2009 7:07:07 AM MT

DTV Transition: Continuing Coverage

One of the early findings from Friday's analog turnoff was that some stations which had switched their digital signals from UHF to VHF, such as ABC-owned WLS Chicago and WPVI Philadelphia, were now experiencing reception problems. But there were also reports from broadcast engineers of freakishly good VHF reception on Friday, for both analog and digital signals, with stations being picked up in distant markets hundreds of miles, or in some cases even over 1,000 miles, away.

For example, a Canadian viewer 75 miles north of Toronto who had been watching Ch. 4 out of Buffalo, WIBV, found an unusual replacement for that station when it signed off at 9 a.m EST Friday--Belo's WWL New Orleans, still broadcasting on analog Ch. 4.

"She called the station, and said, ‘I live in Canada, but I'm watching your morning show in my house with an indoor antenna," says Belo VP of technology Craig Harper. "So our GM in New Orleans, Bud Brown, sent her a bunch of tchotchkes--WWL mugs, t-shirts--for being our furthest viewer on the last day of analog."…”

  It is an interesting story in Broadcasting & Cable. 
I did not know about “Nightlight” stations.  I guess a major city has one station that just broadcast a screen for people to tell them about the change.  I guess they just broadcast at night.  They are going to do it for two weeks.
  That would make it pretty neat for “DXers” that want to see what stations they can pick up now.
  

World Events and News and Twitter

  I do not think anyone should get their news from Twitter.  Most of all I do not think that CNN or any news media should report anything that appears on Twitter.
  I use Twitter and you can follow me on Twitter:  n0uwy

  But you never know who someone is on Twitter and you never know if anything they say is the truth.  They may say they are reporting from Iran and they may be sitting in their living room in Kansas City watching TV.

  Twitter is great to keep up to date on when a blog is updated or if a new program is out or what is on TV and things like that …but you should not get “news” from Twitter.