Recent Posts

1751

Living Room / Getting a video capture card: any comments?

« Last post by superboyac on August 06, 2012, 12:09 PM »

I want to get a video capture card to transfer all sorts of stuff to my computer.  For example, all the old VHS family recordings we have, i'd like to convert to digital.  Also would like to connect video feeds from my camcorder into it direct (live stream).  Etc.  I don't want a usb connection because usb sucks.  For video stuff, I want maximum no-throttle speed, which means a pcie device connected to the motherboard.

So I'm looking for a pcie video capture card.  I have no idea what to look for.  Something like this I'm guessing:
http://www.amazon.co...T8QCYA/ref=pd_cp_e_1

If anyone has suggestions please let me know.  Also, if there are things I should be concerned about please let me know also.  Am I going to have issues adding a video capture card to my system?  I don't know, anything like that.  Thanks.

1752

Living Room / Re: Olympic coverage this year SUCKS!

« Last post by superboyac on August 05, 2012, 11:50 PM »

I'm boycotting the Olympics this year.

-40hz (August 05, 2012, 09:01 PM)

Yay~! More people need to boycott the Olympics.

I haven't watched the Olympics since the 80's. It was complete corporate whoredom then, and it has since slid down the ranks to corporate-crack-whoredom. The level of "control" this year is more sickening than ever.

On top of that, I've always had this icky, dirty feeling about the Olympics. Something has always seemed "off", in an H. P. Lovecraft sense of the word... I suppose the Olympics is just showing its true colors more than ever now.

-Renegade (August 05, 2012, 11:23 PM)

1753

Living Room / Re: Hidden Netflix Marathon Gems to Watch Online

« Last post by superboyac on August 05, 2012, 11:06 PM »

There's a great moment when she informs Sherlock Holmes: "I would have you right here - on this table - until you begged for mercy twice." When the normally unflappable Holes replies that he never begs, she merely arches her eyebrows and says, "Twice."

-40hz (August 05, 2012, 09:38 PM)

^^, by the way 40, i have to see that scene.  I love that Bohemia story, one of my favorite endings.

1754

Living Room / Re: Hidden Netflix Marathon Gems to Watch Online

« Last post by superboyac on August 05, 2012, 11:01 PM »

Ok, my turn now.  My new favorite show is Louie:


This guy...I can't say enough good things about this guy.  The show is funny, beautiful, honest, emphatic, shocking...genius.  He does things with relationships that is just the most honest portrayal of dating and parent/child stuff that I have ever seen on the tube.  Which reminds me...I'm about to watch the latest one, can't wait!!

I believe season 1 is on netflix streaming.

1755

Living Room / Re: Hidden Netflix Marathon Gems to Watch Online

« Last post by superboyac on August 05, 2012, 10:56 PM »

^^I was introduced to this Sherlock Holmes show a few months ago.  I also really enjoyed it, so I concur and recommend it as well.  They made it really fun for a lot of different types of audiences.  I'm a huge Holmes fan, been reading the books since I was a kid.  The new movies are pretty good also.

I will have one point of criticism for this new modernized version of Holmes: they are both missing something.  i don't know what it is, but there's a quality to the books that doesn't seem to translate well to our hip societies.  I think what the rehashes have done well is take the subtleties of the stories that normally get ignored, like the personalities, and they've exaggerated them to show everyone how these are different than the same ol Holmes depicitions of the last 100 years.  And I like that, but it's a little too much.  The original stories were a little more subdued.  Holmes' wittiness wasn't so in your face.  I mean, the movies turned him into a British Jackie Chan.  yes, he's a good fighter, but Holmes was also always surrounded by a sense of gritty realism.

Anyway, a friend of mine recommended I watch the British Holmes version from the 80s, which is supposed to be very good and authentic (Jeremy Brett is Sherlock). Here's the amazon link.

1756

Living Room / Re: Olympic coverage this year SUCKS!

« Last post by superboyac on August 05, 2012, 10:46 PM »

Hmm, when I watched Wimbledon this year I thought if the Brits were ever gonna' get a champion, it would be in 2012 since they shelled out billions to host the Olympics and spent a lot in the last few years putting a roof on Center Court etc.. Murray got to the final, but lost to Darth Federer.  But it seems like my theory was only 1/2 wrong. Murray beat Roger to get the Gold. Now maybe he has the monkey off his back.

-MilesAhead (August 05, 2012, 08:29 PM)

Dude, I have soooo many questions and suspicions about tennis.  Too many people are conveniently winning at just the right time to maximize profitability.  i don't know, i don't have any evidence for anything, but the last couple of years have been far too convenient in tennis.  All the steroid use stuff is completely ignored by the media, but at least this blog keeps them in check with its tiny viewership:
http://tennishasaste...roblem.blogspot.com/

Seems like weird stuff started happening once people got bored of Federer a few years ago.  Guys like Djokovic and Nadal beat him with ease over the years, and then went on to consistently lose in insignificant matches to insignificant opponents, in embarrassing fashion.  Injury reports are all vague, suspicious, and also always conveniently timed.

Federer won a lot, everyone got bored because of no competition.
Then Nadal started showing life, and everyone wanted that to become a rivalry.  Then it did.  Then Nadal rode some hype to a suspiciously incredible season.  Then he just sucked all of a sudden and Djokovic had a suspiciously incredible season.  Then, people remembered how beautiful Federer's game was, and started comparing Djokovic/Nadal to his, and calling it brute strength victories with just hard, conservative (i.e. boring) rallies.  Then Andy Murray was in the mix, but could never beat Federer.  Then he does in the Olympics.  Serena has been surrounded by controversy, none of which is investigated seriously at all by the media.  How do you cut yourself in a restaurant under both your feet??  I'm still waiting for a remotely reasonable explanation on that one.

But welcome to the information age everyone.  Where we find out that all these things that we thought were so clean and kosher, are in fact riddled and dominated by manipulation.  Part of growing up I guess.

1757

Living Room / Re: Olympic coverage this year SUCKS!

« Last post by superboyac on August 05, 2012, 10:35 PM »

I'm boycotting the Olympics this year. I've had enough of the nonsense surrounding who gets to watch what, where, and when. To Aram's earlier comment, I too remember when the Olympics just used to be "on" before Los Angeles decided to go all out and blatantly make a huge buck off the games. Their historic success has since inspired far too many wannabe host countries to try to do the same.

Add in the embargoes on news coverage, score reporting, and even certain words already found in English dictionaries, and I've had my fill.

I wish the athletes the best of success, and hope their Olympic experience lives up to their expectations. They deserve it for the amount of time and personal effort they bring to the games. And I also personally hope London and all future hosts (the US included) merely break even  going forward - and fervently hope that NBC and all the other media vultures lose their shirts. That's the only way the Olympic Committee will ever get the message - when they can no longer play the ignorant, the egotistical, and the fools off against each other in order to line their own already bulging coffers.

-40hz (August 05, 2012, 09:01 PM)

I was here in LA during that Olympics.  My Dad took me to the events, cool father-son time.  But the marketing was sooooo much.  You couldn't turn anywhere without seeing that weird eagle/owl mascot thing.  At the time, I thought it was cool since I was a kid and liked cartoons.  But looking back, I hate the fact that I remember that stupid bird more than the events.

1758

Living Room / Re: Olympic coverage this year SUCKS!

« Last post by superboyac on August 05, 2012, 05:23 PM »

What are the games about? 

-superboyac (August 05, 2012, 05:03 PM)

Nope...

This year, its all about the money, they don't give a shit about the sport.

http://news.sky.com/...rds-crash-at-wembley

http://imgur.com/gallery/uovYe

Just a few examples (and proof)

-Stephen66515 (August 05, 2012, 05:11 PM)

Sheesh.  People wouldn't need the wifi hackspots if they would just show the games in a reasonable way.  I'm still blown away...how do you not show the 100m live??  Is there a more high profile event?  Man, i remember growing up in the 80s and just seeing the Olympics 24/7 on the TV...any TV, anyone's house.  Now we have more technology, more channels, more people, more events, more TV's, more everything!!  And we are seeing fewer events!  It's so freaking ironic and crazy!!  The easier it gets to see, the less we are seeing??  I feel like the corporations won't ever be happy in this world until they've turned every single person on this planet into an asshole.

1759

Living Room / Olympic coverage this year SUCKS!

« Last post by superboyac on August 05, 2012, 05:03 PM »

What are the games about?  The competition.  How do we experience this?  With video.  Is there any video available?  Not much, maybe like 10%.  What's one of the most anticipated events?  Usain Bolt's 100m.  Did they show it live?  No.  What the hell??

Do highlights show up on NBC.com in a reasonable amount of time (less than a day)?  Nope.  Is it because they don't have the technology or employees, or money?  hardly.  Have corporations sucked the fun out of everything?  Seems like it.  Are politicians concerned?  Not really.

Olympics suck.  We can't see shit, it's too hard to find what we want to see.  This is stupid.  I'm done.  Enjoy your Olympics.  I don't need to turn watching the Olympics into a volunteer job of detective work.

Let me ask you this: Of the events that you are aware of (you know who won, interesting things that happened)...do you know this because you SAW it live?  Or on video at least?  Or from reading articles?  Yeah, that's what I thought.  And I don't mean 15 second highlights, that's basically seeing the last half lap and someone celebrating.  i wouldn't call that an experience.

1760

Living Room / Re: Should we pre-emptively retire old hard drives?

« Last post by superboyac on August 04, 2012, 02:39 PM »

Amahi server looks really great.  I'm especially attracted to their drive pooling which is advertised front and center.  Ok, testing this one soon...

1761

Living Room / Re: Should we pre-emptively retire old hard drives?

« Last post by superboyac on August 03, 2012, 10:20 PM »

So i now have clearos running on a vmware.  Not sure what to do next, am currently investigating...

Ah!  I see, I install it, then use a regular web browser to manage and configure it.  Pretty nifty, nice on the eyes, and so far easy to use.

1762

Living Room / Re: Should we pre-emptively retire old hard drives?

« Last post by superboyac on August 03, 2012, 09:34 PM »

I'll eventually build my server and show everyone how I went about doing it.

-superboyac (August 03, 2012, 07:17 PM)

Check out ClearOS Community Edition when/if you decide do a server. Amazing bit of tech. Very powerful free (i.e. community) edition available for download. Good docs too.
 

-40hz (August 03, 2012, 08:39 PM)

Could you give some bullet points of what makes it stand out?  I just did a few searches and couldn't really figure it out.  If you think it's good for my server project, perhaps I'll make another video of me playing around with it to see what it can do.

1763

Living Room / Re: Maximizing problems when docking toolbar on left in Windows 7

« Last post by superboyac on August 03, 2012, 07:54 PM »

It might be a problem with Bluebeam, other programs seem to work.  I'll email them.

1764

Living Room / Maximizing problems when docking toolbar on left in Windows 7

« Last post by superboyac on August 03, 2012, 07:53 PM »

So I've been docking my toolbar on the left side of the monitor in Windows 7 lately.  But programs don't respect it when maximizing the windows.  The windows maximize all the way to the left, essentially underneath the toolbar.  But when the toolbar was on the default bottom position, it's not like the maximized windows go under the bottom part.  How do I get the maximized windows to stop at the edge of the toolbar?

1765

Living Room / Re: Should we pre-emptively retire old hard drives?

« Last post by superboyac on August 03, 2012, 07:17 PM »

I don't think there's a single anything off the shelf currently on Windows that will do all that. But you could mix & match to get it. Windows 8 will be including drive pooling and RAID-like features if that's any consolation.

-40hz (August 03, 2012, 07:13 PM)

I don't think there is either, I've been looking!  In that other thread, someone mentioned 3 programs that would run on a windows server that sounded like it would do what I want.  Also, I read an article of someone talking about the new drive pooling features in windows 8 and server 2012, and saying it's not really up to speed yet.  I forgot the reasons why, but something to do with wasting space in the pooling due to the smallest drive or something like that.  You don't want that.  I'll eventually build my server and show everyone how I went about doing it.

1766

Living Room / Re: Should we pre-emptively retire old hard drives?

« Last post by superboyac on August 03, 2012, 06:43 PM »

So, just buy 2 then? Or 4 for mirrored raid?

-Renegade (August 03, 2012, 01:30 PM)

  ...A 4 drive (RAID1) mirror?

-Stoic Joker (August 03, 2012, 02:26 PM)

Umm...Maybe Renegade is thinking of a RAID-10 (aka: "striped mirrors") since he's talking four disks? That would give the best performance and reliability since you get the benefits of both striping and mirroring. RAID-10 is used in many mission critical setups, although newer RAID controllers can give it a run for its money on performance using just RAID-5. It does rebuild more quickly than RAID-5 does following a drive replacement however. (I've only seen one in-production RAID-10 in my entire career BTW.)

The really big downside for personal use is that a controller that supports RAID-10 will be on the expensive side - and tends to be very fussy about the drives it uses. This is definitely more of an 'enterprise' level solution.
 .

-40hz (August 03, 2012, 04:32 PM)

This is the big struggle I'm in right now.  Given the situation of a personal computer geek which is (like me) we have a bunch of hard drives we've collected over the years.  Different sizes, different manufacturers, etc.  How can we stick all these in a box and divy them up into various pools?  Like 3 drives in one pool of random sizes, another 3 to back that one up, a couple more for dumping stuff into, etc.

But I have a couple of other threads about this, sorry....

1767

Living Room / What do you desire from your job?

« Last post by superboyac on August 02, 2012, 05:55 PM »

I was reading a very interesting survey result.  This particular survey is limited to white people:

What Whites Said About Work

Beginning in 1973, the GSS showed a card to the person being interviewed and asked, “Would you please look at this card and tell me which one thing on this list you would most prefer in a job?” The card had these choices:

• High income
• No danger of being fired
• Chances for advancement
• Working hours are short; lots of free time
• Work important and gives a feeling of accomplishment

After the subject gave his first priority, the interviewer ascertained which were his second, third, fourth, and last priorities. The item was given in almost every survey from 1973 through 1994. Then the GSS dropped it for the next twelve years, perhaps because the answers had been so consistent. Among prime-age whites, the most popular first choice was always work that “gives a feeling of accomplishment,” getting an average of 58 percent of the votes in each decade. The two least-chosen first choices were always short work hours (averaging 4 percent) and no danger of being fired (6 percent). In 2006, the GSS resurrected the question, and the results were startling. The 58 percent that had always voted first place to work that “gives a feeling of accomplishment” was down to 43 percent. First-place votes for short working hours more than doubled to 9 percent. “No danger of being fired” doubled to 12 percent, with another 13 percent ranking it in second place.

There is no reason to think that the 2006 results were a fluke. Unusual economic troubles don’t explain them—the national unemployment rate stood at a low 4.6 percent and GDP growth was a healthy 6.1 percent. The results are not a function of something peculiar about the 30–49 age group; they persisted when I looked at older and younger respondents. Still, it’s just one survey, and I wish we had corroborating evidence of such large changes in other recent GSS surveys. So I will leave it at this: We can’t be sure, but it looks as if during the last half of the 1990s and the first half of the 2000s, whites by their own testimony became less interested in meaningful work and more interested in secure jobs with short working hours. Furthermore, these trends applied to both Belmont and Fishtown. This is not the way Tocqueville or Grund described the American attitude toward work. In fact, the responses in 2006 looked downright European.

1768

General Software Discussion / Re: Immersive Explorer: Oh God why?

« Last post by superboyac on August 01, 2012, 05:07 PM »

Also, I kinda like the Metro visual style.

-f0dder (August 01, 2012, 01:53 PM)

Nice to know there's at least two of us that do.

Welcome back!

-Stoic Joker (August 01, 2012, 05:00 PM)

I really don't mind the metro ui either.  I don't see what the big deal is.  I'm not saying it should replace every single windows ui element, but for certain things it's kind of nice.  As a launcher I think it works great.  I also love the idea of customizing your screen into little rectangles for whatever you want.  I mean, we have several DC applications here where we like to divide up our screen space so windows tile and lock into place in powerful ways.

Also, I kinda like the Metro visual style. It won't work everywhere, but when done properly it's damn clean and decently looking, compared to the gaudy Apple-style "let's make the ebook reader look like a wooden bookshelf" crap. I wonder if all the wasted space in the above screenshot is simply because there's not enough items on the "home screen" to fill it out, or if it's an active design decision - I hope it's the former :-)

Agree.  lol. so true.  I hate seeing wood in my software, usually indicates a lack of functionality for some reason.

1769

General Software Discussion / Re: Immersive Explorer: Oh God why?

« Last post by superboyac on August 01, 2012, 05:02 PM »

But virtually all of them fall in love with Q-Dir within two minutes after first seeing me launch it.

-40hz (August 01, 2012, 02:47 PM)

wtf??  That's pretty cool!  Great...now I have yet another file manager to consider.  Oh well, I'm adding it to the toolbox!

1770

Living Room / Re: esata vs. USB...fight!

« Last post by superboyac on July 30, 2012, 04:05 PM »

@superboyac the thread in your link is from Jan 2011.  The only thing new I've learned since then is check Device Manager to make sure your USB 3.0 hub does not have the option to power off to save energy enabled. Otherwise if the drive in the dock is idle for awhile it may shut the port off. I've already posted my experience on that thread in detail.

-MilesAhead (July 30, 2012, 02:19 PM)

Dang Miles!  Always one step ahead!  Thanks...

1771

Living Room / Re: esata vs. USB...fight!

« Last post by superboyac on July 30, 2012, 03:45 PM »

One serious drawback of esata for external docking solutions is that you need one esata port and cable for EACH DRIVE in the dock.
This was a nasty surprise for me, and i've never forgiven esata for this issue.

To me, the external usb docks are great in that they are so portable; speed is not my main concern -- I just want to be able to quickly connect and disconnect and move the dock to different pcs, etc.  USB has seemed like a better match for my needs over esata.

-mouser (July 30, 2012, 01:22 PM)

That's true, i was annoyed by that also.  It's presented an interesting challenge in my DIY project of building a server box with  10-20 drives in it.  I was initially going to just use esata, but now I realize i have to use sas or expanders or something like that.

1772

Living Room / Re: esata vs. USB...fight!

« Last post by superboyac on July 30, 2012, 02:52 PM »

Strikes me that this is another Ford vs. Chevrolet discussion.  No one (1) solution will be ideal for all folk.

It also strikes me that a discussion of just speed is rather pointless.  OK, there is the reliability issue, but the primary concern seems to be speed.  Yeah, I want things done fast.  And I want things done reliably.  But all the systems I currently possess have one (1) [non-shareable] esata port.  Some of 'em don't even have that.  But every one (1) of 'em has multiple USB ports (tablets not included).  So 'twould seem that our concentration should be on maximizing use of available resources, not on which resource is faster. 

As I said, it's a Ford vs. Chevrolet discussion which will never be resolved.

-barney (July 30, 2012, 02:31 PM)

i don't think we should dismiss as easily as that.  Sure, there are differences.  I'm trying to delve into those differences to see what the advantages and disadvantages are for multiple issues.  Yes, in the issue of convenience, USB wins hands down.  In real-life speed tests, esata wins hands down.  We don't have to dismiss that so easily.

I mean, this leads to several questions.  Why didn't esata take off?  My computer has multiple esata ports, and I might be using every single one of them.  Never had a problem with speed or reliability.  USB...I've had several problems.

What is it really about USB that leads to this unreliability?  I've heard it could be poor driver coding or something like that.  Almost like people rush to make the drivers for USB so they can sell all the millions of usb devices, but the drivers might suck.  Or maybe the architecture of it sucks.  perhaps the fact that USB can do so much means that complications are bound to occur.  The kitchen sink argument.

I was a huge fan of esata when it came out.  I was really hoping there would be a transition from usb to esata.  Never happened.  I don't understand why.  Then USB 3.0 came out, and there's a whole lot of talking about it.  But the few USB 3 devices that are out there that I've had experience with have all had serious issues.  And still, esata is not taking off.  How come people, now that usb 3 is here and we've seen it, are not asking "Why are we waiting for USB 3 instead of just using esata which is better, has been around and is mature?"  I don't know.  Probably has to do with money and marketing, blah blah.

I also have hopes for thunderbolt/light peak.  But looks like we might have to wait a year (minimum) before we can get our hands on any of that stuff.

1773

Living Room / Re: esata vs. USB...fight!

« Last post by superboyac on July 30, 2012, 11:34 AM »

Found a thread that talks about some tests performed on usb and esata.  His tests show very clearly how esata is faster and more reliable than usb 2 or 3.
Thread is here:
http://www.sevenforu...-transfer-rates.html

By the way, eSATA is a lot faster than USB3.0 ( which is still very buggy with the NEC chips).
Here is a comparison, all using the same disc but on various ports and using various drivers;

Even a working USB 3.0 interface is not as fast as eSATA. So a bit pointless really. I decided not to bother with any USB 3.0 hardware for myself after quite a lot of testing.

1774

General Software Discussion / Re: Ripping My DVD Collection

« Last post by superboyac on July 28, 2012, 09:36 PM »

^It might surprise you. People have been reporting the Raspberry Pi can handle 1080p just fine through the DMI plug although I don't know what file type they're playing or at what size.

-40hz (July 28, 2012, 08:21 PM)

That's precisely why I want to do a bunch of experiments with it.  I'm also looking for a forum/blog/website that talks about playback issues in a clear way.  Far too much techno mumbo jumbo that is largely meaningless unless you are a video producer or video programmer, and not enough playback centered discussion that I can find.

people throw the term 1080p out there, and it's a confusing term.  I just found out there's 1080p with 30fps framerate, and 1080p with 60fps framerate.  I just bought a video camera that can do 60fps, we'll see what that really means.

I was going to start a thread last week about this issue.

-superboyac (July 28, 2012, 04:20 PM)

Short memory?

You did start a topic   

-4wd (July 28, 2012, 08:27 PM)

Yikes!  Thanks 4wd, totally forgot.  I'm all over the place lately, trying to do far too much probably.  I feel like I need a life secretary.

1775

General Software Discussion / Re: A better sound

« Last post by superboyac on July 28, 2012, 08:08 PM »

-he never asked for decent sound, merely softer, so of course the answer is Yes!

They call it "booming bass", but luckily you can adjust the settings.
Demo: http://www.srslabs.c...essentials/demo.html -scroll down and click [with/without] SRS.
There are several versions, including apps for smartphones, but nothing free.

-Curt (July 28, 2012, 03:19 PM)

I strongly agree with Curt.  Srslabs really do wonderful things with sound.  I was a passionate user until I started upgrading my audio equipment (i.e. $$).  For things like youtube and web audio, the compression of the audio is awful and who knows where they get the sources from, so the end result is awful, loud sounds as Giampy described.  So if you can't spend money on good audio equipment, I highly recommend srs.  And of course all the flac,e tc. stuff that was mentioned as well.

And if I can be weird for a minute, please allow me...
Take some time each day if you can and listen to "old" things.  Things from before 1980.  An hour every day would be perfect.  It will train your ears to hear different things than what we've been used to most of our lives.  If you can listen to vinyl, do so.  I'm a computer geek, and I still like flacs that are ripped straight from vinyl because it retains the mastering of those original sessions.  The commercial cd's of old albums are remastered, and the remastering producers tend to modernize the sound, which usually means more bass, crisper highs and lows and removal of the subtle middle stuff which is really what makes the sound pleasurable.  Without it, it sounds harsh.
I'm not one to judge musical preferences because music is sheer joy, regardless of the genre.  However, if you listen to techno and trance and other post-90's type of music, your ear is like those bodybuilders we see today...very muscular on the arms and abs, but no real functional strength.  Ideally (for me at least), you want your ear like the elite athlete of the 1930s who was well balanced, functional, yet still powerful.  Listen to classical music of the legends...Bach, Mozart, beethoven until you can answer the question for yourself "Why has this lasted for hundreds of years?"

In the Bach vs. beethoven argument, I'm totally a Bach man.  With that in mind, I got a huge kick out of this clip:
http://minus.com/lbzkcNqBThno7h