Archive for the ‘Featured’ Category:
New Netgear Powerline adapters [DaddyTech]
For some reason no one that I know uses Powerline devices for home networking. And they should, because it’s incredibly easy.
You know all those cool new Blu-Ray players that can stream Netflix? New TVs that have built-in YouTube? They won’t work unless you connect the stupid thing to the Internet. Some home entertainment devices have built-in Wi-Fi, but frankly, Wi-Fi isn’t always fast enough to produce a smooth video stream.
Powerline, also known as HomePlug (the official name seems to be the HomePlug Powerline Alliance), lets you use electrical outlets to stream data. Plug one Powerline/HomePlug adapter into your router, then put another one anyplace you need it. I find that I get the best results using wired Ethernet; there are wireless Powerline adapters, but I think that defeats the purpose — wired Ethernet is stable, but running cable all over your house is very expensive. Even if you have the electrical knowledge to equip your home with Ethernet jacks, that takes a tremendous amount of time. (Does the phrase “I’ll install a drop ceiling and run wires that way!” sound appealing? Try running that one by your wife.) Plugging in a wall-wart-type of device is about as easy as it gets.
The speed isn’t what you get with real Ethernet jacks, but it’s better than wireless, and certainly more than enough for most users needs. You also don’t have to worry about dropped signals, Netgear’s new offerings include the Powerline AV 500 Adapter Kit (XAVB5001), which has a smaller form-factor than previous adapters, according to published reports. That’s important, because you can’t plug a Powerline adapter into a surge protector and expect it to work. It wants an outlet of its own, and since most electrical outlets are jammed close together, not blocking one or even two is important. (Note: I’ve read that you can make Powerline work if it is plugged into a surge protector; I’ve never tried it.)
The new stuff isn’t available yet. If you can’t wait, pick up the NETGEAR XAVB101 Powerline AV Ethernet Adapter Kit from Amazon.com. Or look for older model adapters from smaller companies, either on Amazon or even eBay. If you prefer to buy new gear, the Actiontec MegaPlug 85 Mbps Ethernet Adapter Twin-Pack is under 80 bucks on Amazon and has very good customer reviews. Remember that no matter what you buy, you’ll need at least adapters — one for the router, one for the device you want to connect to the Interwebs. In my experience, mixing brands doesn’t matter — I’ve used at least three different brands of Powerline/HomePlug adapters over the years and they all worked fine together.
Netgear brings the goods to CeBIT: HD streamers, HomePlug AV adapters [Engadget]
Winter Olympics Video Games [Wii Curling and More]
Loving the Winter Olympics? Think you can’t participate? For shame! You can be an Olympic athlete in the comfort of your living room.
OK, you can PRETEND to be an Olympic athlete. But it’s the Wii, so you can sort of get up and move around. A little bit. There are non-Wii games as well for those of you who don’t like to move AT ALL.
- Winter Blast: Snow and Ice Games (Wii, $19.99)
- Deca Sports (Wii, $19.99) — this is the game that has Wii Curling. Yes. Wii Curling. Here is video proof. Warning: the first one might not be 100% safe for work, since it features a guy playing Wii Curling, making a frenetic movement with his hands near his crotch area, and shouting “HARD!” Then again, that’s what they shout during real-life Curling. The second video is just game play stuff.
- Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (Wii, $39.99; DS, $33.99) — this title has been advertised heavily on NBC during the 2010 Vancouver games, which is smart, because now I suddenly want it. Although even my wife has said that we may need to buy Deca Sports just to try out Wii Curling. How the heck does it even work? So the best marketing is to make a game based on a weird Olympic event.
Shaun White won Gold, but he was already the king of the snowboarding video game. Available for all platforms, and Wii players can get a Snowboard for the Wii Fit Balance Board.
- Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip (Wii, $14.94), Shaun White Snowboarding: World Stage (Wii, $36.78), Skateboard / Snowboard for the Wii Fit Balance Board (Wii, $29.99)
- Shaun White Snowboarding (XBox 360, $19.99; also available for PS3, PS2, PSP, and DS)
Family Safe Gmail Ads
Gmail will never upset you.
To ensure a quality user experience for all Gmail users, we avoid showing ads reflecting sensitive or inappropriate content by only showing ads that have been classified as “Family-Safe.” Gmail’s filters also block ads from running next to messages about catastrophic events or tragedies, erring on the side of not displaying an ad if the content is questionable. (emphasis added)
I think I’d be OK with the occasional inappropriate text ad appearing near a message about Grampa’s heart attack than I would be with being reminded that my email account scans my messages. Also, what does Google consider “catastrophic events or tragedies”? Maybe they could give a shit about my family, but if I mention a drop in their stock price, all ads are pulled. (Note: We have no way of knowing whether or not Google gives a shit about our family, your family, or anyone’s family.)
Plus, what is “family safe”? Maybe I’m a member of the Manson Family and want to see ads for embalming fluid, ammunition, and clocks that bark.
But you can feel comfortable knowing that when you need to let someone know that something bad has happened, you can use Gmail and not see ads for Vi@gr@. Phew.
via About Gmail
Intel Might Put Your Laptop On TV [DaddyTech]
With their new Wireless Display technology, Intel might put your laptop on TV. Finally.
There is a ton of great video content online, most of it free. I’m not talking about torrents or file-sharing. A lot of the best stuff is fully authorized. Hulu for example. Have you ever spent time browsing their catalog? It’s not only recent episodes of shows you don’t watch anyway. There are old movies, complete series, all sorts of good stuff.
The problem has always been how the heck do you get that cool stuff to display on your television. The no-longer-new flatscreen TVs that almost everybody has certainly made this task easier; many models have a plain old monitor port that you can use to plug in a PC. Still, that means more wires, as well as finding room for a computer near the television.
There have been ways to transfer video wirelessly from a computer to a television set, but they required the use of clunky dongles and/or dedicated media server devices. As a bonus, most people thought the output sucked.
BUT! Intel may have solved this problem. CNET’s gadget blog Crave asks the question Is Intel’s Wireless Display a game changer? (It’s also called WiDi, which is a dopey but descriptive name.) Here’s a video where they try it out.
It may not be perfect yet, but it’s better than what we had before. Mostly I’m happy that Intel is working on this at all. It seems like the kind of thing that the major networks/content producers would not be all that happy about. Think about it. Sure, they’ll put their shows online. But if you want to watch that show on a TV screen, they want you to look at commercials. For example, Hulu blocked Boxee users from viewing their content in February of 2009.
So is WiDi a sign that major networks are loosening up a bit in terms of how we view our content? In the words of the great Kent Brockman, only time will tell.
Hands-on: Is Intel’s Wireless Display a game changer? | Crave – CNET
Also:
Intel announces WiDi HD wireless display technology (Engadget)
Sean Salisbury’s Meltdown
You may have read about the trainwreck that is Sean Salisbury. Since the former ESPN talking head is also a dad (more on this later), I decided to weigh in.
Sean Salisbury was an NFL quarterback. He was OK. Not great, but OK. Well, maybe mediocre at best. Hey, he played professional football, which is no small thing.
Speaking of small things, he also allegedly likes to show pictures of his wiener to women at parties. (I should say “allegedly small thing.” No idea how big Little Sean is.)
There is no proof of Salisbury’s actions, and he has denied it vehemently. (Deadspin first mentioned it in 2007.) But in April, a woman gave an “eyewitness account” of the incident to Deadspin.com. Apparently Mr. Salisbury’s M.O. is to go up to a lady and say “want to see a picture of my baby?” Then he pulls out his cellphone, which has a snapshot of his wang.
Only a guy would ever do something like this. Think about it. Has any woman ever walked up to a guy at a party and whipped out a picture of her vagina?
Even if the cellphone thing turns out to be untrue, Sean Salisbury might be insane. Via Deadspin:
Hey I’m a dad trying to raise kids and get reputation cleared and a lawsuit will bring everyone to carpet. So feel free to go on ur deadspin and call me those names.
In response to AJ saying, “Okay. Please try to keep it together,” Sean replied:
Keep what together. Is that one of ur condesending remarks. I am together happy on the beach and raising my kids.
and later:
These emails r from beach. I hope u can get it together lol
Deadspin commenters are generally very amusing, proving that at times The Hive (my name for the collective social networking-commenter-troll brain that is the Interweb these days) can produce cleverness, such as this:
I feel like I just walked in on my dad jerking off into the mirror. (lukeoneil47)
Well said.
Or as a commenter on ProFootballTalk points out, It’s pretty sad actually that there is no one in this guy’s life who will say “come on Sean, it’s starting to really get embarassing”. (Richm2256)
Also well said.
I want to say something about Sean’s “I am together happy on the beach and raising my kids” comment.
I try very hard to avoid spending time on my cellphone when on vacation with the family. I don’t often succeed, but I at least make an effort to limit myself to things that actually require my attention. The idea that Salisbury is engaging in an ongoing dialogue with the editor of a website while on the beach with his kids is wacky. So is the fact that he feels a need to mention them. Using your children as a shield is something I find irritating, and that’s what Sean is doing here. Are we supposed to have sympathy for him beacuse he’s a father? Frankly, after reading his emails to Deadspin, I have more sympathy for his kids.
Image: Wikipedia
Why Serena Williams Losing Might Be A Good Thing
I don’t understand tennis. But if I’m right in my analysis that Serena Williams lost the chance to defend her U.S. Open title because of a temper tantrum, maybe her losing was a good thing.
I’ve been saying for years that athletes who act like 4 year olds should be penalized. We all laugh when a baseball manager kicks dirt on an umpire, and its funny to watch. But it’s bad sportsmanship. Even more idiotic is when a batter argues balls and strikes. There is no provision for an umpire to change a balls and strikes call, which means that arguing is pointless. There is a school of thought that says if you get in the ump’s head, perhaps you get the call next time. I would argue that for every call you get because of that, you lose two more because the umpire has decided not to reward the crappy behavior of petulant bratty rich kids, aka the players.
Athletes are generally millionaires several times over. Does that mean they shouldn’t care about a bad call? Of course not. But what we like to call “fire” or “desire to win” can also be viewed as a simple lack of self-control.
When Joe Wilson shouted “You lie!” at the President of the Untied States, he said that he let his “emotions” get the best of him. Why does anyone accept that as an excuse? Don’t we expect our children to be able to control themselves enough to not throw a block at another child because they were called, say, a baloney head? The issue at hand may be more important to grown-ups, but if you asked the average four year old which was more important, a perceived playground slight or national health care, I think we all know what the answer would be.
Serena Williams reportedly told a line judge that “You don’t fucking know me! You’re lucky I’m not shoving this ball down your throat!” While no athlete or sports fan wants to see an event decided by a technicality, perhaps Ms. Williams and other athletes will stop and think a moment before unleashing invective at the officials. Take a breath. Calm down. Might this take a bit off their game? Maybe. Or it might get them to focus on playing, rather than degrading someone who is only trying to do their job.
Commenters on Williams’ web site are divided, with some saying that she should apologize, some saying she did nothing wrong. One seems to blame the line judge for causing Serena’s outburst. Um, no. She did it. Whether she committed a fault or not (like I said, I don’t understand tennis) is irrelevant. Act like a grown-up. Control yourself.
Here is video of the outburst for anyone who missed it:
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DO_jlXjgxN8]
Serena has reportedly been fined $10,000. I have no idea if that’s a big amount for tennis or not. She can certainly afford it. Whether or not it will drive the message home is something else. Judging by her reaction at the press conference, I’m guessing no.
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AneiGX3hyqg]
Image: SportsCracklePop. The pic is from May of 2009, and apparently she told her opponent “I’m going to get you in the locker room for that, you don’t know me.” So the whole yelling at people thing isn’t exactly new.
Health Care Reform, Blue Dogs, and Paul Krugman
It doesn’t look like the House will vote on a health-care bill before their “recess” on Friday. For some reason I think “recess” is an appropriate term for such a childish group of individuals.
Oh no he didn’t! He did not just call members of our government childish!
Ah, but I did. Why? Because one of the main stumbling blocks appears to be the self-described “Blue Dog Democrats.” I fully respect the idea that people will disagree with the President’s plans, even if they are members of the same party. But why do they have to give themselves a name? Do they wear special jackets? Perhaps with little blue doggie patches on them? Anyway, Paul Krugman says that the Blue Dogs “aren’t making any sense” because they want to keep the costs of the proposed health care plan down, but at the same time don’t want to force small business owners to contribute to it. (I’m simplifying a lot. Sorry. I don’t have a NOBEL PRIZE.) Personally, I think Krugman is an extremely bright guy but is wrong about this particular point. It is possible to think one thing that appears to be in opposition to something else. It happens all the time. To me, the real problem is watching potentially life changing legislation get hung up by a bunch of guys who feel the need to call themselves something as stupid as the Blue Dogs.
Is the President’s plan perfect? I have no idea, but I doubt it. Will the Obama Presidency collapse if health care reform isn’t passed by Friday, as Krugman suggests? Nah. In fact, the President himself said “by the end of the year” in his press conference last week. Nobody seemed to notice. So this “before you get to go to recess” deadline is mostly designed to give the House and Senate a kick in the ass.
And you know what? It worked. Republicans are talking seriously about health-care reform. You know the last time that happened? Nixon. (Again, I may be wrong about that. But I don’t think I am.) Not that I want to let anyone off the hook, but you know something? That’s a victory for President Obama. A very real one. Can you tell me the last time we saw a debate about the issue at hand — health care — getting more attention than the politics surrounding the issue? Obviously politics are still very much a part of the storyline. But John McCain just helped the President kill off a plan to build more F-22 fighter planes. John McFuckingCain! The guy who ran against Obama for President! How is that not seen as a major political victory?
I hope they pass a health care plan. I really do. And I hope it’s not done to meet an artificial deadline. But I don’t think it is. If the House leaves without a vote, they’re the ones who will look like they haven’t done their jobs. The President is doing his. It’s time somebody started to notice.
