Dale Dietrich – Page 7

February 12, 2009February 28, 2017

Frost/Nixon (2008)

(3.5/5) docu-drama, bio-pic

Reference: |

Reviews: Roger Ebert | IMDb External Reviews | Rotten Tomatoes 91% | Metacritic 80%

Ron Howard directs another fine movie. Michael Sheen capably plays David Frost.

To my mind, this movie is about Frank Langella’s total embodiment of Richard Millhouse Nixon. Langella honed this roll with Sheen during a two year stint on Broadway – and it shows. Within seconds, I had an uncanny feeling that I was watching Nixon himself. Langella didn’t put on excessive amounts of makup to try and look like Nixon, rather he studied the man and captured his essence, his mannerisms, his speech patterns, the way he carries himself – to a tee. Very impressive!

Kevin Bacon aptly plays a loyal aide to Nixon. After his years on West Wing, always enjoyable Oliver Platt seemed an apt choice for his role. I wasn’t impressed with Sam Rockwell as James Reston (the researcher). Anyone could have played that role.

Continue reading “Frost/Nixon (2008)”

February 11, 2009February 28, 2017

The Reader (2008)

(4.5/5) romance – drama

Reference: |

Reviews: Roger Ebert | IMDb External Reviews | Rotten Tomatoes 59% | Metacritic 58%

The Reader (2008) is a powerfully complex movie, both beautiful and sorrowful, romantic and tragic.

Kate Winslet is within my top 10, perhaps top 5, all time favourite actresses. She is once again fantastic here – playing a compelling character that I simultaneously felt empathy and revulsion for. It’s a sin that 6-time-nominated Kate Winslet has never won an Oscar. She ‘should’ be a shoe-in for best Actress for this performance.

The most poignant line from the movie is ‘It’s not what you think, its what you do that matters’. The surprisingly good newcomer, David Kross convincingly played a naive teen and a mid-20’s law student struggling, years later, with what to think and what to do.

Continue reading “The Reader (2008)”

February 8, 2009February 28, 2017

How to Disable ‘Send Feedback’ link in Windows 7 Beta

While I am not against providing feedback to Microsoft on their Windows 7 beta, I have constantly clicked on the ‘send feedback’ link on the top right of every window by accident.

To remove it:

Run Regedit (Start button – type ‘regedit’)
Navigate to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
Change the ‘FeedbackToolEnabled’ key to 0 (it is set at 3 by default)
Reboot

February 6, 2009February 28, 2017

How I Configure Firefox

I have recently reinstalled Firefox on a number of computers (iMac and two Windows 7 beta machines). Every time I do this, I have to recreate my Firefox configuration from memory. For the benefit of my future Firefox installs, and for anyone else interested in how I configure/optimize Firefox, in this post I describe the various tweaks I make to Firefox and the various add-ons and extensions I routinely use.

Note: The discussion below assumes you are using Firefox 3.0 and above.

A Word about ‘About:Config’

The tweaks below are made through Firefox’s ‘about:config’ page. It’s easy to use. To access the ‘about:config’ settings page enter ‘about:config’ into Firefox’s address bar (circled in green below).

You can scroll up and down the list to find the key you wish to modify (they are listed alphabetically). Click the key you wish to edit, change the value and click ‘OK’. Alternatively you can type the key (or the first few letters of it) in the Filter box (circled in red below) to narrow the list.

Continue reading “How I Configure Firefox”

February 5, 2009February 28, 2017

How to Convert AAC Songs to MP3s in iTunes

If you want to play those AAC songs you purchased in iTunes on another media player that doesn’t support AAC or if you need an MP3 version of an AAC song for other uses, such as with Animoto, fear not, its easy to convert an AAC song in iTunes to MP3 format.

Here’s how to do this on a PC:

open iTunes
click on the ‘Edit’ menu
click ‘Preferences’
click the ‘General’ tab
click the ‘Import Settings’ button
click ‘MP3 Encoder’ on the ‘Import Using’ pull-down menu
Select the desired quality level on the ‘Setting’ pull-down menu

I suggest using the highest possible ‘Higher Quality (192 kbps)’ option. This will take more time but encodes the best quality MP3.

click ‘OK’ twice to close both dialogue boxes
select the AAC track you want to convert in the iTunes window
(you can click and convert more than one at a time if you wish)
right-click on it;
choose "Create MP3 version" from the popup menu.

Continue reading “How to Convert AAC Songs to MP3s in iTunes”

February 3, 2009February 28, 2017

How to Migrate Feedburner Feeds to Google Adsense

Google’s acquired Feedburner back in June of 2007. Feedburner has since been integrated into the Google Adsense platform. Bloggers can now place adsense units into their RSS feeds. In order to take advantage of of this service I needed to migrate my three Feedburner feeds into the new Google adsense feeds system.

According to this Google/Feedburner FAQ, February 28, 2009 is the deadline to migrate feeds. After that users will no longer be able to access their Feedburner accounts.

The migration process is simple for regular Feedburner users.

I use the MyBrand service – see my earlier ‘Google Turned Feedburner into ‘Free’burner Without My Knowledge’ post. A few more steps are required to migrate MyBrand feeds.

General Migration Steps

You can initiate the migration process from inside of Google Adsense or Feedburner. I initiated the transfer from within Adsense.

Note: You’ll need to set up an adsense account before you initiate the migration.

Click on this link to begin: ‘Move feeds to your Google Account’.

Enter your Feedburner credentials into the following dialogue box:

Continue reading “How to Migrate Feedburner Feeds to Google Adsense”

February 2, 2009February 28, 2017

Windows 7 is Really Windows 6.1

There has been quite a bit of debate recently on why Microsoft named Windows 7, Windows 7. There have been, in fact, a dozen or so versions of Windows released over the years (not including the multiple SKU’s per release).

As you can see from the picture above, Microsoft’s internal version number for Windows 7 is version 6.1. Ha! You can see this for yourself if you are running Windows 7:

Start
All Programs
Accessories
Command Prompt
type ‘ver’ and hit enter

Tada! 🙂

Continue reading “Windows 7 is Really Windows 6.1”

February 2, 2009February 28, 2017

Nadal’s Designer Sneakers at Australian Open 2009

Once again I’m posting pictures of the designer sneakers worn by Rafael Nadal at the 2009 Australian Open. As always, the bull logo appears on the left shoe with ‘Rafa’ on the right. Now that he has won an Aussie Open, we can expect an Aussie Open trophy on next year’s sneakers! 🙂

I am astonished by how much traffic these pictures of his designer tennis bring to The Daleisphere. What the heck. You want it, I’ll blog about it.

Cheers.

February 1, 2009February 28, 2017

Australian Open (2009) Second Week – Nadal and Serena Win

[Click images for larger views.]

Nadal def. Federer: Nadal won his first major on a hard court while denying Federer‘s attempt to match Sampras’ 14 major record. This marks the first time a Spaniard has won the Aussie Open. The high level of play we saw in the 2008 Wimbledon final continued into the early sets of the Aussie final. Given the record setting five hour, fourteen minute semi between Nadal and Verdasco, Federer’s attempted to capitalize on Nadal’s fatigue. It didn’t work. Nadal did seem tire out early on but was resilient enough to take it to a fifth set where Federer appeared to wither. Nadal’s strategy, to constantly serve and return to Federer’s backhand worked.

Federer broke down in tears during his acceptance speech. He had to walk away to compose himself. He stood their crying for what seemed like an eternity as the crowed cheered. He finished his speech, fighting back the tears after Nadal picked up his trophy. I’ve never seen anything like that.

Trivia Tidbit: The coin toss is irrelevant for every Federer/Nadal match. No matter who wins, Nadal always elects to server and Federer always elects to receive.

S. Williams def. Safina: Serena Williams embarrassed Dinara Safina in a 6-0, 6-3 loss lasting less than an hour. This was Williams’ fourth Aussie Open win and 10th grand slam title. Safina’s performance tournament-wide was less than spectacular. She needs more work. She apologized to the crowd for her poor performance. The crowd forgave her.

Continue reading “Australian Open (2009) Second Week – Nadal and Serena Win”

January 25, 2009February 28, 2017

Australian Open (2009) – First Week Roundup

Below is a roundup of my thoughts and observations concerning the first week matches at the 2009 Australian Open.

Click on the photos below to view full-sized versions.

Men’s Singles

Nadal Tweaks his Game & His Outfit: Number 1 seeded Nadal has changed his service stance (a little more open, left leg further back and tighter in) to try and get more speed on his serve. It seems to be working so far. His average first serve speed at the Aussie Open in 2009 is 113 mph. His average speed in 2008 was 109 mph. He is also dropping the elbow close to the body to take topspin off his forehand and flattening his forehand to work better on the slower Australian courts. As for fashion, his shorts are a little shorter and he has shirt sleeves for the first time. You’d think that with all his millions, he’d be able to hire a designer to solve his constant wedge problem. But no, he was tugging at the back of his new shorts as much as he ever has.

Roddick: Roddick lost 15 pounds in the off-season. He lost the weight to gain speed. Speed is needed to compete with the top players these days. Fabrice Santoro did Roddick a big favor by knocking out Kohlschreiber in the second round. Kohlschreiber defeated Roddick at the 2008 Aussie Open. I’m looking forward to his next match with Djokovic (assuming Djokovic beats Baghdatis) in the quarters. I’ll be cheering for Roddick! Is it just me, or does that KIA logo make you hunger for a Kit-Kat too?

Continue reading “Australian Open (2009) – First Week Roundup”

January 24, 2009February 28, 2017

Why and How to Integrate Facebook Connect with Disqus

The primary reason I switched from Intense Debate to Disqus, is Disqus’s integration with Facebook Connect. Below I describe why this is important. I then provide a step-by-step ‘how-to’ guide on how to integrate Facebook Connect with Disqus.

[This Post was Updated on April 18, 2009 to reflect the changes made to the setup process, both on Disqus and the Facebook developer pages.]

1. Why Facebook Connect is a Big Deal

Discussion via comments draws users back for repeated visits to their site while engaging them in conversation with the blogger and other commenters. Bloggers want traffic to drive more ad sales and, frankly, they want more people reading their content. Otherwise, what’s the point?

Users are understandably reluctant to leave comments on blogs. Most bloggers, including myself, require users to leave a name, email address and an optional URL. The reason for this, at least in my case, is to weed out spam commenters and to develop a sense of community among commenters. Requiring such information has the unfortunate side effect of dissuading most readers from commenting because they don’t want:

the ‘sign up’ hassle just to leave a comment; and
to provide personally identifying information.

Facebook Connect solves these two problems and provides other terrific benefits.

Continue reading “Why and How to Integrate Facebook Connect with Disqus”

January 24, 2009February 28, 2017

How to Integrate Disqus within WordPress 2.7 Blogs

Earlier this month I described How to install Intense Debate in WordPress 2.7 blogs. In my ‘Why I switched from IntenseDebate to Disqus’ post [coming soon] I describe why I made the switch.

The Disqus installation instructions are out of date (written for pre WP 2.7 blogs) and surprisingly difficult to follow.

Happily, both Disqus and IntenseDebate mirror/sync comments within a blog’s databases (though there are still problems with threaded comments not retaining structure – see part 6 below). This makes it possible to switch back and forth between the two at will.

Below I provide a step-by-step guide for integrating Disqus within a WordPress 2.7 blog. I first make some preparatory recommendations. Then I describe the steps needed to set up with Disqus, download and install the Disqus WP plugin, how to import your historical comments into Disqus and, finally, how to reclaim straggler comments.

Continue reading “How to Integrate Disqus within WordPress 2.7 Blogs”

January 18, 2009February 28, 2017

Use Glass Marbles to Save Open Bottles of Wine

Last evening I attended a Spanish wine tasting event at Café Taste (1330 Queen St. Toronto). I was participating in a single’s event put on by Toronto’s Meet Market Adventures.

As a single person, I frequently open a bottle of wine and drink just a glass or two. Over the years, I’ve experimented with different ways of saving the wine in open bottles. For the last couple years I’ve used the vacu vin stainless steel wine saver pump to remove air from the bottle to store it for another day. Unfortunately this method only keeps the wine for a day or two max. And, the emptier the bottle the less well it works.

I asked our Café Taste host, Jeremy Day (pictured below), if he had any other suggestions to preserve an open bottle of wine. He came up with the remarkably sensible suggestion of putting sterilized marbles into the bottle and then recorking. What a clever idea!

Continue reading “Use Glass Marbles to Save Open Bottles of Wine”

January 16, 2009February 28, 2017

Windows 7 Beta – First Impressions, Problems, Bugs, Likes and Dislikes

On Sunday January 11, 2009, I upgraded my 64 bit Windows Vista production PC to the 64 bit Windows 7 Beta (‘’W7B’) (available here until ~~Jan 24~~ February 10, 2009).

The installation was straight forward. It took about two hours to complete on my system (I understand clean installs can be done in about 20 minutes). After answering a few questions, the upgrade took care of itself.

[Update: On Sunday January 18, installed W7B on my Lenovo x41 Tablet in dual-boot mode. So far so good. I hope to write a separate post about my tablet experiences with it soon.’]

Below I describe the problems, bugs, likes, dislikes and other observations I’ve made after constantly using the beta in a production environment for five days.

1. Upgrade Problems, Issues, Bugs

The upgrade went smoothly for the most part. But, I did experience the following problems, issues and bugs:

Windows Desktop Gadgets Do Not Work When UAC is Shut Off: This bug took me several days to isolate. As you’ll read below, I shut off UAC because, among other reasons, Woopra wouldn’t start automatically with it turned on. Isolation was tricky because when you first turn off UAC, the gadgets don’t immediately disappear. But they will be gone after your next reboot. In my case the next reboot came after I installed a sound card driver (see below). For days I though my sound card driver was knocking out my gadgets … until I found this article explaining the bug. Suffice it to say, in Windows 7 Beta, if you turn off UAC, your gadgets will disappear. For now I’ve set UAC on the lowest settings to keep my gadgets going. This means Woopra won’t auto-start any more (see below) and I have to manually bypass the UAC warnings each time I manually start it up.
Multi-monitor & Screen Resolution Setup Issue: I have four monitors connected to my Dell XPS rig. Both: (i) the relative positioning settings (ie: where monitors sit next to each other); and (ii) the screen resolution settings s (ie: 1900 x 1200); used in Vista were futzed up after the upgrade. Plus, the procedure used to adjust the relative monitor positioning has changed in W7B. It took me some time to figure that out. To adjust each of these settings in W7B, right click on the desktop and select ‘Screen Resolution’ (click image for larger view). From there you can position your monitors and set the screen resolutions back to where they should be.

Continue reading “Windows 7 Beta – First Impressions, Problems, Bugs, Likes and Dislikes”

January 14, 2009February 28, 2017

Yes Man (2008)

(3/5) romantic comedy

Reference: |

Reviews: Roger Ebert (2/4) | IMDb External Reviews | Rotten Tomatoes 42% | Metacritic 46%

Yes Man (2008) is a story about taking chances, trying new things and getting the most out of life. After attending a motivational seminar, Carl decides to say ‘Yes’ to every ‘opportunity’ thrown his way. The story that follows is eminently predictable, but still enjoyable and rather uplifting.

Jim Carrey plays Carl with ‘a little less’ than his normal whacky shtick. That is a good thing. Carrey, best suited for this type of role, does a fine job.

yes man (2008) - jim carrey and zooey deschanel
Zooey Deschanel is another of my favourite contemporary comedic/romantic actresses. She is, once again, type-cast as a quirky, yet adorable, eccentric. For that reason, she was the only thing I enjoyed about the otherwise disappointing Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2005). As always, I enjoyed her performance here. I would like to see her stretch a bit in future films. She is, I believe, an actress capable of so much more than her film choices do date have allowed her.

Yes Man is a touching, romantic comedy, suitable for the entire family.

January 13, 2009February 28, 2017

Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

slumdog millionaire poster (5/5) drama, romance

Reference: |

Reviews: Roger Ebert (4/4)| IMDb External Reviews | Rotten Tomatoes 94% | Metacritic 86%

This is a beautiful movie. It has an engaging story. The terrific cinematography captures India in a beautiful, yet realistic, way that I’ve never seen before. Slumdog Millionaire (2008) won Best Picture at the 2008 Golden Globes (see video). It deserved the win.

The casting was impeccable. Each of the three main characters age over the film. Three distinct actors played each of the three main characters (for a total of 9 actors) in childhood, youth and young adulthood. While obviously impossible, I really felt I was watching the same actor playing each character, aging through each stage of their respective lives. This was the first movie for all of them. All were very good.

I’m glad I didn’t know much about the plot before I entered the cinema. I don’t want to ruin it for you beyond what is revealed in the trailers. An unlikely boy (Jamel) from the Indian slums becomes a contestant on India’s version of ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire’. The story – how a boy from the slums got to where he is, how his devotion to a girl, as she grew into a young woman, propelled him through life – is revealed through flash-backs. The story is lovely.

If you enjoy shows like ‘So You Think You Can Dance’, you’ll want to hang around for the entertaining credits. I highly recommend this movie.

January 9, 2009February 28, 2017

Windows 7 Beta Available Today

windows 7 logo Starting today, anyone can download the Windows 7 beta (W7B) here. Microsoft’s promotional W7B page is here. The definitive WB7 blog post (by Brandon LeBlanc) explaining how it all works is here. The W7B FAQ is here. Paul Thurrott’s W7B info is here.

[Jan 10, 2009 – 2:30 pm EST Update: Official Microsoft Servers are back up! Get it here now! Microsoft has removed the 2.5 download cap. Anyone can download beta ~~for two full weeks (ending Jan 24~~ until February 10, 2009).]

~~[Jan 10, 2009 – 1:34 pm EST Update: Get it now! Click~~ ~~here~~ for instructions on how you can easily bypass the official download channels and get official Microsoft beta keys and links to the download. I just did this and got two keys – one for each of the 32 bit and for64 bit versions.]

~~[Jan 9, 2009 5:49pm EST Update: Warning: As you can see~~ ~~here, the Microsoft servers were slammed. Check back at~~ ~~the windows blog~~ ~~from time to time to be notified when download servers are back up.]~~

Warning: From this download instructions page:

The Beta will stop working on August 1, 2009. To continue using your PC, please be prepared to reinstall a prior version of Windows or a subsequent release of Windows 7 before the expiration date. You won’t be able to upgrade from the Beta to the final retail version of Windows 7.

You’ll know you are starting to get through when you get to this sign-up screen (click for larger view):

You’ll be all set with the key and ready to download when you see this screen:

The beta ~~is limited to the first 2.5 million downloads~~ will be available to all until January 24, 2009. Both 32 bit and 64 bit versions are available. You will need a Windows Live ID (such as a Hotmail, MSN, Xbox Live account etc.). The beta will only upgrade computers with Vista SP1 installed. You can, however do a clean install from an XP machine (wiping out the OS and starting from scratch).

[Update: Sunday January 11: I have installed it. There’s been a few hiccups. It’s certainly faster than Vista. I intend to write a complete post about my experiences soon].

The download is an iso file. You’ll have to burn an .iso to a DVD in order to install. You can burn it to a DVD with Roxio or Nero. If you don’t have those, the free ImgBurn software will do the job.

Continue reading “Windows 7 Beta Available Today”

January 8, 2009February 28, 2017

Scoble Convinced me to Join friendfeed

Since joining Twitter a few months back, I have wanted to understand how it overlapped/interacted with the web-content aggregator friendfeed. I looked at friendfeed at least two or three times and never quite ‘got it’ – until today.

Robert Scoble was a guest on the recent episode 81 of net@night. This guy is quite the friendfeed evangelist (Arrington suggests he’s addicted to it). So much so that the net@nite discussion made me want to take another look. Leo mentioned that Scoble had done a ‘how to’ type video on friendfeed. A quick Google search lead me to this very informative 26 minute video: ‘Robert Scoble: 20 Things About Friendfeed”:

Continue reading “Scoble Convinced me to Join friendfeed”

January 7, 2009February 28, 2017

GRAN Torino (2008)

(4/5) drama

Reference: |

Reviews: Roger Ebert (3.5/4) | IMDb External Reviews | Rotten Tomatoes 73% | Metacritic 73%

Clint Eastwood hits another home run. I agree with my friend Don Bennett who said on exiting the movie: “I was expecting a good movie and I got a very good movie.”

In Gran Torino (2008) Eastwood plays an aging and grizzled Korean War veteran coming to terms with the death of his wife, a changing neighbourhood, disappointing children and grand children, an Asian family that has moved in next door and, most importantly, his life.

In his sunset years, this aging Dirty Harry’esque character unexpectedly becomes friends with the young boy next store. The boy, competently played by Bee Vang is torn between gang-life and the straight and narrow. More impressive is the performance of Ahney Her, his smart and feisty sister, who makes an effort to bridge the cultural divide.

Terrific movie. Probably not suitable for young children.

January 6, 2009February 28, 2017

How To Install IntenseDebate in WordPress 2.7

Since listening to this net@night podcast back in May 2008, where Amber and Leo interviewed Daniel Ha, the founder of the Disqus, I have been interested in implementing this kind of a community-oriented, commenting/discussion system on my blogs.

Early on, I had compared the feature set of Disqus and its competitor, IntenseDebate (“ID”), and Disqus’s feature set and looks won. Concerns surrounding the ability to import, export, sync and otherwise control my comments, held me back. I was not going to join any system where I lost ownership/control of my users’ comments.

In the interim, both Disqus and ID have added dynamic comment importing, exporting and synchronization features. I became comfortable that I would not be locked into any commenting system if/when I chose to leave. Scot Jangro’s December 30, 2008 post, ‘Comment System Review Redux’, compared the the two systems afresh and gave me substantial comfort that ID’s feature set had evolved to near parity with Disqus (see other comparisons: inquisitr.com | Mashable).

But the clincher came on Sept 23, 2008 when Automattic, the owner of WordPress, purchased IntenseDebate. (See: Matt Mullenweg’s comment – IntenseDebate’s comment – Disqus’s comment). I expect Automattic to integrate IntenseDebate’s community comment / discussion system into the WordPress core at some point. So, as a WordPress user, it seemed a no brainer to go with IntenseDebate.

[January 23, 2009 Update: Despite what I wrote above, I ultimately switched to Disqus not long after implementing Intense Debate. In my ‘Why I switched from IntenseDebate to Disqus’ post [coming soon] I describe why I made the switch.]

IntenseDebate’s WordPress Plugin features are discussed here. The newest WordPress Plugin (v 2.0.18) has been completely overhauled, making the installation and comment import/export/sync process much easier than it was.

Below I describe why I installed ID. I then walk you, step-by-step, through the IntenseDebate installation process in WordPress 2.7.

Continue reading “How To Install IntenseDebate in WordPress 2.7”

December 23, 2008February 28, 2017

Drobo Recovers from Drive Crash as Promised

Data files on each of my web server, laptops, primary computer and iMac are regularly and automatically backed up to my networked Drobo. I also use the Drobo as a primary repository for 100’s of Gigabytes of centralized data – accessible from any device on my home office network, including my Apple TV, TiVo, PS3 and Xbox 360.

As of three days ago, I had two 500 Gigabyte drives and 1 Terabyte drive installed in the Drobo. Two days ago a flashing red light appeared beside one of the 500 Gig drives. This meant that the drive had failed. I purchased a 1 Terabyte Western Digital replacement drive for $114 at infonec.

True to data robotics claims, I was able to hot swap out the defective 500 Gigabyte drive and slide in the new Terabyte drive without incident. It took about 15 seconds to do. Subsequently, it took about six hours for Drobo to reconstitute data redundancy – ie: to format the new drive and redistribute my data across the newly constituted drive array such that data would once again not be lost if any drive failed. During the recovery process, lights beside the three drives blinked green and red. This page on the drobospace.com website says the lights blink green and yellow. It looked more like green and red to me.

Continue reading “Drobo Recovers from Drive Crash as Promised”

December 16, 2008February 28, 2017

November 2008 NPDs – Nintendo Blowout

It’s time to create a whole new category for the Wii phenomena. Holy cow– more than 2 MILLION in sales in North America in November is crazy. Yet, to this day there still isn’t a single game on the Wii I’d want to play – not one. Yet you can’t deny those sales numbers.

Video game industry sales are UP 10% year over year. Terrific given the economic downturn.

I was happy to see the 360 outsell the PS3 and PSP combined. Though I’m starting to worry about the PS3’s long-term prospects given its continued poor results. Despite the industry upturn, the PS3’s sale’s numbers are LOWER than its November 2007 numbers. The PS2 results show its time is coming to an end. I wonder how many months before Sony kills it? But, it still hasn’t reached the $99 price point. Perhaps it can grasp a few more months of breathe with a price drop before Sony puts it out of its misery.

Meanwhile my copy of November’s top selling Gears of War 2 is collecting dust as I finish Resistance 2 for my review. Gears 2 sold 1.56 million sold – trouncing Resistance 2’s comparatively meagre 385K unit sales. I’m really looking forward to Gears when I get the time – especially online co-op.

November 2008 Console and Game sales results after the break.

Continue reading “November 2008 NPDs – Nintendo Blowout”

December 15, 2008February 28, 2017

Readers of ‘The List’ Deserve Followers of ‘The Professional Bachelor’ and Vice-Versa

the rules - time tested secrets for capturing the heart of mr. right - by ellen fien and sherrie schneider

The men and women who follow the advice in ‘The Professional Bachelor’ and ‘The Rules’ deserve each other. Someone should put them in a ring and let them fight it out! 🙂

A friend once recommended I check out ‘The Rules’. Presumably she thought it would help me better understand women. I didn’t think any book reflecting the male’s perspective could be as objectionable as ‘The Rules’ until I recently discovered the ‘The Professional Bachelor’.

The Rules

The full title is: ‘The Rules: Time-tested Secrets for Capturing the Heart of Mr. Right’ (click here to read excerpts). A more apt title would be: ‘The Rules: Time-tested Secrets for Manipulating Brain-Dead, Money-Pot, Neanderthals into Marriage’.

I read it back in 2001, standing in a bookstore while waiting for a long delayed connecting flight. I was appalled. It depicted dating much the way dating is portrayed in ‘Sex & the City’ – with a world full of shallow, self-cantered individuals, intentionally manipulating members of the opposite sex to gain twisted advantage. Do these people really exist en masse? I rarely meet them.

Continue reading “Readers of ‘The List’ Deserve Followers of ‘The Professional Bachelor’ and Vice-Versa”

December 12, 2008February 28, 2017

How To Move the iTunes Library to a Home Server while Keeping its Underlying Media Structure Intact

Is the size of your iTunes music library starting to overwhelm your C: drive? Do you want to make your iTunes music library available to more than one PC over a network?

This post is about how to move all the files in your iTunes Music Library (including music, podcasts, videos, TV shows and audio books) from your PC’s drive to a network drive (or another drive on the same PC) while retaining both: (i) the integrity of the underlying file names and organization structures; and (ii) playlists, play counts, ratings etc.

This post is for the gear-head types like myself. Those that have spent time ‘under the hood’ organizing their music the way they want – naming the underlying files with names of their choice, organizing the files into directories of their choice, etc.

If you are like most people and let iTunes do its own thing (ie: let iTunes handle file naming and organization), this post is not for you. There are much easier ways to move your files if you let iTunes do this it’s way. See, for example, here, here and here.

Background

First PMP – The Creative Nomad: My first portable music player was a 32 Meg (yes, Meg, not Gig) Creative Nomad. I organized my music at that time with Windows Media player (‘WMP’).

Dale’s Early Music Organization: Over the years, I spent an enormous amount of time and energy ripping songs from my CDs, keeping my underlying music library file names, file organization/directory structures and meta data pristine. All the files were contained under my C:\Files\MP3 hierarchy, making it very easy to back up my media from time to time by simply backing up that directory.

Continue reading “How To Move the iTunes Library to a Home Server while Keeping its Underlying Media Structure Intact”