Pages

Thursday, December 30, 2004

Poker Hand Slang

I found this and, since I plan on playing a BUNCH of Texas Hold 'Em durring the next week I figured I would share them.... Ok, it's realy so that I can easily come back here and read them.

 

The project list for the week off is extensive. Finish How to Lose Your Job, Pt. 2... seriously mess around with Photoshop via a fine Xmas gift from the Mom... tidy up my Del.icio.us bookmarks to make some sense... hey, I should clean-up my local bookmarks, as well. NOTE TO SELF.

Oh yeah, I'm going to play some poker, as well. In preparation for a Vegas trip in February, the boys are gathering together to put in some reps in at a local casino. The idea being to get a feel for a professionally run poker game versus the home game where we're drunk, loud, and sloppy. Not that you can't do the same in Vegas, it's just that you'll lose lots of cash to folks who aren't.

I've been putting together a list of slang to describe Texas Hold 'Em hands for a few weeks now. It's a list of common and uncommon names for those two hole cards that I've collected from websites too many to credit here, so I'll just say THANK YOU INTERNET.

22 = Ducks, Quackers, Barely Legal
33 = Crabs
3A = Baskin-Robbins (31 flavors)
44 = Mid-life Crisis, Magnum, Sailboats
45 = Jesse James
55 = Presto, Speed Limit, Nickles
57 = Chevrolet, Heinz
5T = Walgreens
66 = Kicks
69 = Big Lick, Dinner for Two
72 = Beer Hand
76 = Union Oil
77 = Hockey Sticks, Mullets, Sunset Strip
7T = Split
88 = Snowmen, Piano Keys
95 = Dolly Parton
99 = Get Smart, Gretzky
TT = Dimes, Boxcars
J4 = Flat Tire (What's a jack for?)
J5 = Motown (Jackson 5)
JJ = Hooks
JA = Jackass
Q3 = San Francisco Waiter (Queen w/ a tray)
QQ = Hilton Sisters, Siegfried and Roy
K3 = Seafood
K9 = Fido, Canine
KJ = Kojak
KQ = Marriage, Mixed Marriage
KK = Cowboys, Krispy Kreme, Gorillas (King Kong)
AJ = Ajax
A8 = Dead Mans Hand
AQ = Mrs. Slick
AK = Big Slick
AA = Pocket Rockets, American Airlines, Bullets, Alcoholics Anonymous


[Rands In Repose]

Wednesday, December 29, 2004

December Blogstipation

Too many things going on to talk about. I will phill you all in starting in the new year.

Wednesday, December 22, 2004

Man builds giant robot in backyard

Holy heaps of heavy metal!  I want one! :)  Talk about livening up the commute!!!  Move over or I will squish you!!

neomecha

Alright, this guy is officially our new hero.  He’s building an 18-foot tall robot (or “mecha”) in the backyard of his home in Anchorage, Alaska.   The anime-inspired behemoth is actually a giant exoskeleton that you jump into and ride, letting you take eight-foot strides or, presumably, fight invading aliens.  He hopes to have it finished by next summer and will demonstrate it by demolishing a few cars at the local racetrack.  Somebody, please send us video.

[Thanks, Dana]
[Engadget]

Tuesday, December 21, 2004

Automakers Working on Car-to-Car Ad-Hoc Networks

So long as the mechanisms that make the car go forward and backwards are not connected :)  I would hate to have a NOW virus tell all the cars that people were stopping in front of them and cause the cars to stop...

But, if we are ever going to realize the vision like they had in the I Robot movie of fully automated travel I guess we have to start somewhere.

Monday, December 20, 2004

VMWare Releases 5.0 Public Beta

Here is something noteworthy!

VMWare released a public beta of the new version 5 of its virtual desktop software Sunday. As reported earlier, the latest release includes a host of new features ranging from improved collaboration and networking, better performance and security, to enhanced cloning capabilities and Microsoft Virtual PC compatibility.

Thursday, December 16, 2004

Add WiFi to your Treo 650! SD WiFi card drivers hacked

This looks cool...

Treo 650 small

Plenty of Treo 650 owners were cheesed off that palmOne released their new smartphone without support for their WiFi SD card (which officially only works with the Tungsten T5, the Tungsten T3, and the Zire 72. They’ve promised to get around to supporting it sooner or later, but you know how impatient those hackers can be, and so hot on the heels of his fine work to uncripple the Bluetooth on Sprint’s version of the Treo 650 so you can use it as a wireless laptop modem, “Shadowmite” has figured out a way to hack the driver for the SD WiFi card so it’ll work with the Treo 650, too (the hacked driver is hosted here). Hugeness, of course.

[Engadget]

Microsoft buys GIANT

Got this in my email today:
Today, Microsoft announced that we have acquired GIANT Company Software Inc., a New York-based company that develops anti-spyware and Internet security products. The goal of this strategic investment is to help our customers keep spyware off of their computers with new solutions that they can use in the near future. It also provides us with a solid foundation for delivering new long-term solutions.

In order to help protect customers as soon as possible, we plan to roll out a beta offering of a new spyware prevention, detection, and removal solution based on Giant's technology within the next month. The solution, which will be available for Windows 2000 and later operating systems, will enable customers to decide whether to block, find and remove spyware and other unwanted software from their PCs. Together with the security technologies in Windows XP Service Pack 2 that improve the security of browsing, this solution will offer a higher level of protection for customers on the Internet.

We are also tackling the spyware issue in other ways, including consumer guidance & engagement, industry collaboration and cooperation with legislators & law enforcement.

This acquisition reflects Microsoft's deep commitment to security. We intend to continue investing in solutions to help protect customers against all types of malicious software, not just spyware.

Details on timing and terms of product availability for our new anti-spyware offerings are yet to be determined. It will be available for Windows 2000 and later operating systems.

Microsoft has posted more information on our efforts to combat spyware
on: http://www.Microsoft.com/spyware

If you have any questions regarding this alert please contact your Technical Account Manager or Application Development Consultant.

Thank you,
Microsoft PSS Security Team

Time Warner Boosts Cable Speeds

More bandwidth. :)

Time Warner has unwrapped a holiday gift for its cable Internet subscribers: faster downloads. The company plans to roll out increased speeds of 5Mbits and 8Mbits per second, a 2Mbit boost for its standard and premium RoadRunner cable offerings. Customers in New York will see the improved download speeds starting next Tuesday, while the rest of the country will reap the benefits come January. Time Warner says it will not increase prices for its 3.7 million broadband users.

Wednesday, December 15, 2004

SilverStone LC11 Micro ATX Home Theater PC Case

Oooooh, I want one of these to put my BeyondTV setup into. :)

silverstone_lc11.jpg imageWhite is fine and dandy for consumer electronics until they get into the ol' A/V rack, then you want black or silver (or if I had my druthers, wood grain veneer as far as the eye can see). SilverStone's new LC11 Micro ATX home theater PC case looks like it gets it right, then, with options in either color, as well as a quartet of USB 2.0 ports on the front, as well as audio and FireWire inputs on the side. I'm not sure if the side-mount bit is good or not, but I could see it going both ways. If you're building your own Micro ATX-based home theater PC, the SilverStone is not a bad looking box, and it's only $150. The 240-watt power supply means that it's no good for gaming, though, so don't try.

SilverStone LC11 Micro ATX HTPC Enclosure [eHomeUpgrade]
[Gizmodo]

Tuesday, December 14, 2004

10 Most Bizarre Palm OS Programs

OK so this is funny.  Follow the link and take a look at FakeCall.  I need one of these for the PPC-6601. :)

 

 

bubblewrap_emu.jpg imageCanal PDA's original article about the most bizarre Palm OS applications was so popular that they translated it into my harsh, guttural language for my edification. Then, using a series of hand signals, I was able to communicate that they should probably go ahead and translate it into English, since that's what most of our other, non-binary readers prefer. Thank the random seed they did—who wouldn't want to live in a world where someone programmed a Bubble Wrap Emulator?

What's the weirdest bit of software engineering you've ever seen (or used) on a mobile platform that didn't run Palm OS?

Bizarre PDA (I): the weirdest Palm OS programs [CanalPDA]


[Gizmodo]

Monday, December 13, 2004

Nextel, Sprint Discuss Merger

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

<deep breath>

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAhh.

 

Not another merger!  And I hate that damn Nextel sound.  People who use those phones have no concept of a dang headset!  It is soooo annoying to have to hear that while trying to eat lunch.  And after finding out that all the person has to do is hold it open to their head and it still works like a radio I am even more peeved.

You didn't read it here first, but it's worth noting: Nextel has unique technology that lets them serve businesses who need push-to-talk quite well, but it's a mess of spectrum and their next-generation data plans are all on the drawing board. Sprint needs to be bigger, and wants the business audience, plus they need to roll out PTT. But they have a 3G plan that's committed to. Could be a decent merger of equals or thereabouts in terms of revenue, subscribers, and what they're bringing to the table. If the merger happens, T-Mobile becomes the distant fourth player in the market. Meanwhile, it's also possible Verizon Wireless will buy Nextel. Verizon Wireless is the only other CDMA carrier in the market now that AT&T Wireless customers as part of Cingular are either on GSM or required to move. Om Malik has some of his usual great analysis of the matter, including the merger's impact on Flarion (the next-generation non-standard wireless data technology Nextel was trying out) and Motorola (which sells Nextel quite a few handsets)....

[Wi-Fi Networking News]

Siemens SX66 for Cingular available

Here you go TechnoD.  This is their version of the PPC-6601, which I have had for about 3 weeks.  It is also the reason I have not made many posts as I have been too busy reading and playing jawbreaker...erm, using the bluetooth connection to VPN and work hard all night... yeah, right.... :)

Siemens SX66Cingular Wireless has finally launched the Siemens SX66, the Pocket PC phone with the slide-out QWERTY keyboard, 3.5-inch LCD screen, 400MHz Intel Xscale processor, quad band GSM/GRPS, an SDIO expansion card slot, and built-in Bluetooth and 802.11b WiFi (yes, it’s basically the Blue Angel/XDA III). The SX66 has a talk time of 4 hours and a standby time of 7 days, and can be yours for $550—but only if you sign a two year contract with Cingular.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this one in]
[Engadget]

Biohybrid Limbs

Wow!  After my grandfather had one of his legs amputated I have a new respect for what these folks have to deal with.  This look like a step in the right direction.... Did I just say that?

biohybrid_limb.jpg imageThis little vo-tech called "MIT" is working on a project to develop "biohybrid" limbs that will use not only mechanical assistance to help amputees get around, but also regenerated tissues and implanted sensors to control the prosthetics. It sounds like a project to take much of the various existing prosthetic technology and bundle it into a nervous system-controlled next-gen system: fluids that solidify into paste when in a magnetic field, springs, artificial constricting polymer muscles, implanted rice-sized microchip sensors; it's not that all this is new, so much as it is an effort to bring the best tech together.

'Biohybrid' limbs for amputees [NearNearFuture]

[Gizmodo]

Thursday, December 9, 2004

The Roborior

OK, I know you may have already seen this but it looks neat!  I wish I could have a bunch of these set to follow the kids around at school! :)

But, you should add tasers to it so that if I don't like the kid following my kid I can taze'em!

Roborior

This is such a tease. Sanyo and tmsuk introduce their new blob-shaped Roborior security bot, which is exactly what we’d want to have patrolling around the house (and perhaps also to hunt down and kill Karim Rashid, oh the irony), and of course it’s only for Japan.

Click to see a couple more pics.

[Via Akihabara News]

Roborior
Roborior

[Engadget]

Wednesday, December 8, 2004

ESX Server Management Interface reports "Unexpected Response" errors

I am posting this because I had it happen too many times and have found it very hard to find this information on the VMWare support site. The links that I saved would either become invalid or would not point to the same thing any more.

This came from the VMWare site so if you have doubts about it, please go there and check it out.


Question
When attempting to manage an ESX Server 2.x virtual machine, the Management Interface reports one of the following:

Unexpected response from vmware-authd: 511 Error connecting to /usr/sbin/vmware-ccagent process.

Unexpected response from vmware-authd: 511 Error connecting to /usr/sbin/vmware-serverd process.

When this ESX Server host is managed by VirtualCenter, the VirtualCenter client may also hang or fail to manage the virtual machines running on that ESX Server host. Is it possible to get past these problems?

Answer
Below are the steps you should take to restore connectivity to ESX Server virtual machines without restarting ESX Server itself to resolve the problem.

Check the free disk space on the root filesystem (the / directory).
Log into the Service Console.
Run vdf -h.
If the Use% column is at or near 100%, move any non-essential files, such as .iso files, to another location to make more space available.


Restart vmware-ccagent or vmware-serverd.
If this ESX Server host is listed in VirtualCenter, run:
ps -auwwwx |grep vmware-ccagent
If this ESX Server host is not listed in VirtualCenter, run:
ps -auwwwx |grep vmware-serverd
Find the process ID for vmware-ccagent (or vmware-serverd).
Kill the process using kill -9 nnn, where nnn is the process ID noted in the previous step.


Restart the http daemon. Run /etc/init.d/httpd.vmware restart.

One possible cause for these problems is attempting to use the Management Interface and the VirtualCenter client to simultaneously access ESX Server while the server is managed by VirtualCenter.

Monday, December 6, 2004

Oakley MP3 Sunglasses

$400!?!?!  Egads that's a high price.  But I guess you pay for name brand specs...

SigmaTel, the leader of MP3 audio controller chips within portable MP3 players has announced a new stylish product and a world exclusive. The "performance eyewear" known as Oakley Thump is available now for Christmas at Oakley.com online stores.

The sunglasses come with 128MB of memory ($400) or with 256MB memory ($495). The device has low power consumption and USB 2.0 to ensure fast data transfer to your goggles.

If you want anymore information on the Oakley sunglasses follow the link below.

Screenshot: >> Click here <<
View: Oakey Thump MP3 Sunglasses

Read full story... [Neowin.net]

Friday, December 3, 2004

Sprint Treo 650 Bluetooth Car Link Issues

I know for a fact that there are issues.  Not only with the Treo 650 but also the new PPC-6601.  I hope the are working on a fix that that as well.

treo_cars.jpg imageA week or so ago some Acura owners complained that their newly-purchased Treo 650s weren't working with their cars' Bluetooth Handsfree links. While that was unfortunately, this whole Bluetooth car thing isn't exactly a science yet, so a little slack was given. Now Blueserker is reporting that it's not just a problem with Acura—many different makes and models of cars, from Toyotas to Chryslers, are having problems getting the link to work correctly (or at all). Posters on the PriusChat forums say that Sprint has acknowledged the issue and is working on a fix (presumably in tandem with PalmOne), but beyond the as-yet-unfulfilled promises from Sprint pre-launch to fix the Dial Up Networking portion of the Treo's Bluetooth stack, no official word has been made.

Bad News for Treo 650 Owners
[Blueserker]


[Gizmodo]

Thursday, December 2, 2004

Coming soon: Robots with Guns

More on robots with guns.

talonrobots Unmanned military systems (aka robots) have been used on the ground in Iraq to search buildings and dispose of explosives since the beginning of the war. Now Foster-Miller’s TALON robots are being adapted for a new purpose—to serve as a weapons-firing robot army that can be on the move night and day. Able to carry four 66-mm rockets, or six 40-mm grenades, as well as a M240 or M249 machine gun, the new TALON robots are intended to protect vehicles and patrol rough terrain, firing via remote control. By April 2005, the first batch of armed Talons are scheduled for deployment in Iraq, as part of the Army’s Stryker Brigade.  No doubt they will be amazingly popular with the troups, for whom going out on patrol and accompanying convoys has been a perilous exercise.

[Engadget]

Wednesday, December 1, 2004

PPC-6601 notes

well... I have had the new phone for a few days. I have tried to be objective, fair, and balanced. This phone ROCKS!! I?ve had a few bugs with a constant beep but if you factor in the connectivity and expandability it outshines the rest. plus its just damn cool. :)

Money 2005 For Pocket PC Released

'bout frigging time!!!

Microsoft has released Microsoft Money 2005 for Pocket PC for use with their recently released Microsoft Money 2005 desktop personal financial management program. The link above will take you to the 1.4MB download for English devices. It is not yet at the normal Money for Pocket PC site - where you can still download the 2003 and 2004 versions. It requires a...

Talon Robots to Wield Guns in Iraq

Now this is note-worthy.  How would you like to be fighting against one of these?

robot_guns.jpg imageMy nigga Noah Shachtman, who I call 'nigga' because neither of us is black, drops mechanized science in this story for Wired, talking about a new prototype Talon robots that will be hitting the sunny deserts of Iraq—fully-armed. I won't say this is a spectacularly bad idea, because 1) it's awesome, 2) robots are unthinking killing machines, just like people, and 3) it's time to get this dystopian dark overlorded future party started.

I'm sure they've secured the radio control signals and worked out the bugs just fine. Of course, if they haven't, the 'malfunctioning' units only have four rockets or six grenades to dodge, and with all that high-quality body armor our troops are wearing, who cares about some silly, motile machine gun capable of thinking for itself?

More Robot Grunts Ready for Duty [Wired]

[Gizmodo]