Into the Void

Netflix Watch Now!

Netflix started rolling out their WatchNow instant video feature in January. If it hasn’t shown up in your account yet, try the link above to activate it.

Oh, but try it in Internet Exploder. It doesn’t work in Firefox.

Netflix WatchNow tests your connection speed to choose what video quality to stream. Other computers on your network can take away bandwidth, so if you plan to do any downloads or play interactive games online, well, don’t. Wait until the movie is over.

By way of Uneasy Silence.

Molex 54819-0572
USB On-The-Go (OTG) Mini-B Receptacle, Right Angle, SMT Solder Tails and Shell Tabs, with Cover Tape, Lead-free

FYI, this is a drop-in replacement for the [tag]miniUSB[/tag] connector in the [tag]RCA Lyra RD2850[/tag] MP3 player.

The [tag]StressEraser[/tag] is a handheld [tag]biofeedback[/tag] unit. Unlike my favorite computer game, [tag]Journey to Wild Divine[/tag], The StressEraser is small enough that I can carry it around in the laptop bag that is too full of other [tag]gadgets[/tag] to hold my laptop.

The StressEraser has a simple, no-nonsense user interface. It is really easy to use. You put your finger in the sensor, hit the “on” button, and the unit starts graphing. Once it figures you out, it starts printing pointers near the end of each inhalation. All you do is synchronize your breathing to the pointers. It helps you breathe deeply and evenly, and this, my [tag]caffeine[/tag]-guzzling [tag]geek[/tag] friend, is [tag]relaxation[/tag].

Ecopad, the Refillable Coffee Filter for the Senseo

I thought I was going to have to get another coffeemaker, because I’ve grown tired of the few brands that make pods for the [tag]Senseo[/tag] single-cup coffee system.

Here’s a refillable coffee pod. Now I can use whatever [tag]coffee[/tag] I want to make foamy single cups.

My new 20 Questions game correctly guessed “anteater.” I told it that it was wrong and after another five questions it guessed “echidna.” What the heck is an echidna?

The answer is: a prickly australian version of an anteater. You must buy this game. It is uncanny.

Picture from the Australian National Botanic Gardens.

The CVS one-time use video camera with modification for advanced preview capabilities.

Watch this space for technical details.

TigerDirect.com Best Deals - Computer Parts, PC Components, Desktop Computers, Laptops, Notebooks

I buy a lot of computer stuff from TigerDirect because their prices are good and they often have kick-ass deals on computer items I need. I am continually tweaking the hardware configuration of my home computer. (This one at work is pretty much a lost cause.)

So when I went there today looking for after-Black-Friday specials I noticed that they are giving away five - count ‘em! - five PlayStation 3 Entertainment Centers in a sweepstakes. If you are interested in getting emails from TigerDirect, click the TigerDirect link above then look for the PS3 banner.

Best of luck to you!

I’d review the PS3 here - maybe even tear it apart and take pictures of its innards - but I don’t have it in me to camp out in front of a toy store. I really want to try out Tony Hawk’s Project 8, too. If you haven’t tried any of the Tony Hawk games, the scenery tilts as you skate up and down walls. It gave me that “warm thrill of confusion” in a way that Altera Quartus II just doesn’t. Unfortunately I had to fight my nephew to play the game, and he has youth and skill on his side.

It’s a Siemens SX66. I reviewed it earlier this year. Read my review.

I’m posting this from it via my home wireless network.

Cingular has their own GPRS network, and I’ll use it in a pinch, but it’s really sssslllllooooowwww, not to mention expensive. I prefer other options

It is very important that you password-protect your home wireless network. I bet there are scads of middle-aged women driving around looking for open wireless networks so that they can steal bandwidth.

Well, I finally made it to the big time.

Well, no, what I really mean is that the spambots found “Into The Void” this week and they are hammering my Wordpress blog with comment spam. I’ve received 500-some requests in the last 48 hours.

Would anyone in their right mind patronize a company that has its people dump irrelevant ads into sites? The most common were drugs and online casinos, followed by mortgages, and then a specific bank’s credit cards. Oh, yes, let me just give all my financial information to someone who uses a fake email address.

Anyway, I installed Bad Behavior.

Let’s see how it goes.

Update 9/22/2007: Bad Behavior, when it isn’t used in the sense of “Leslie’s hobbies,” is a Wordpress plugin that blocks spammers from the site.

Bad Behavior works great. See the bottom of the page for stats. FYI, Homeland Stupidity has moved to a new website.
They also have an immensely satisfying project called Project Honeypot. This project identifies bad spiders and reports them for later action including lawsuits against repeat offenders and the occasional witch-burning. See if you can find it on Into the Void and get yourself added to the spam list… NOT!!!!

Flush with my recent success running Tiki Wiki under Windows XP SP2, I thought it might be fun to try Subdreamer, too. Subdreamer is a Content Management System and is different from a Wiki mainly in the way it organizes and presents data. Subdreamer has the advantage of allowing me to integrate my phpBB forum into it so that my current users have the same user id and password on the new CMS.
In case anyone else wants to smear Linux web apps all over their harddrive, it’s not very hard to do. In this article I’ll walk you through the four main tasks required to evaluate the Subdreamer CMS on a Windows XP box.
You will be using an application called PhpTriad. PhpTriad contains Windows versions of the ubiquitous Apache server with PHP support, MySQL database software, and phpMyadmin. You’ll have no trouble at all getting PhpTriad running.
Next you’ll get the free version of Subdreamer and unzip it onto your hard drive. If you want more functionality when you take your CMS on-line you can buy the full version later.
Then you’ll run the MySQL software and use phpmyadmin to set up the MySql database where the Subdreamer CMS will store the contents of your web site.
Finally, you’ll open the Subdreamer installation file in your browser, work a little magic, and there you’ll be. It’s a little tricky, but I’ve made the mistakes several times so I’ll try to point out the gotchas before you make them.

Ok, let’s do it.

Download and install PhpTriad.

1. Download and save phptriad r2.2 from the project pages at http://www.sourceforge.net/phptriad/ on SourceForge.
2. Run phptriad2-2-1.exe.
3. When the install is done, run PHPTriad -> Apache Console -> Start Apache from the start menu like any other Windows app. A command window named “Start
   Apache” opens. Minimize the Apache window, but don’t exit the program. Apache is now listening on port 80 for browser requests.
4. Open your browser to http://localhost/ and you’ll see the PhpTriad welcome screen. Great!

Download Subdreamer Light.

1. Register on the Subdreamer site at http://www.subdreamer.com/, then log in. Go to http://www.subdreamer.com/light/, download the Subdreamer Light .zip file
2. Extract it into C:\apache\htdocs\. This will create directory C:\apache\htdocs\Subdreamer_Light_2202. Go into this directory, find the directory named upload and move it up to C:\apache\htdocs.
3. In directory C:\apache\htdocs\subdreamer\includes\, make a copy of the file config.php.new. Rename this file config.php.
4. Important! Check the properties of folder subdreamer and uncheck Read-only if it’s checked.

Configure a database for Subdreamer.

1. From the start menu run PHPTriad -> MySQL -> MYSQL-D-NT.
2. When you point your browser to http://localhost/phpmyadmin you’ll see the phpMyAdmin welcome page. It’s pretty much self-explanatory.
3. Point your browser to http://localhost/phpmyadmin and create a new database named sdcms.
4. Point your browser to http://localhost/phpmyadmin and Reload MySQL. It is very important to reload the SQL by revisiting http://localhost/phpmyadmin after every command, so check that out if things don’t work.
5. Point your browser to http://localhost/phpmyadmin and go to Users.
6. Select database scms in the pulldown menu Check Database Privileges. Now add a new user sdadmin and with password sdpasswd. Give the user all privileges. Don’t forget to write down that password!

Install Subdreamer Light.

1. Run the Subdreamer installer by pointing your browser to http://localhost/subdreamer/install/install.php. Fill in the requested data:
      Database server hostname: localhost
   Database name: sdcms
   Database username: sduser
   Database password: sdpw
   Table Prefix: sd_
   Username: admin
   Password: changeme
   Confirm Password: changeme
   Email: you@your.com
   When you click “Install Subdreamer” it should take you to the “Installation Successfull!” page. Hooray!
2. Now delete the install directory and you’re ready to create your web site.
3. Go to the subdreamer admin panel at http://localhost/subdreamer/admin/ and log in as user admin with password changeme. You will be prompted (via a pink error message) to enter the full URL for your Subdreamer installation. It is http://localhost/subdreamer/

And that’s it! Experiment with settings, post entries, create and delete users. Subdreamer is suitable for a small to medium website, and that is why it is so easy to use. If you like Subdreamer, by all means buy the full version.
Just remember to periodically export the sdcms database via http://localhost/phpmyadmin. Not only does it protect your data from late-night errors, and there will be errors, but when you decide to go live with Subdreamer you can reuse your local data on-line. Your web host will likely also use phpMyAdmin and you can follow the same steps to create the database, and then import the file.