LogMeIn

I just wanted to make a quick shout out for this software/website called LogMe In. It's basically a remote desktop program. I've used the free version for about 2-3 years now and have been pretty satisfied. I did accidentally download and install the Pro version when adding a machine. I thought they changed their offerings where the free version came with more of the pro functionality but found that you get a free 30-day trial of Pro and then it reverts to the Free. Did you get all that?

Anyway, the Pro version allows you to drag-and-drop files from the remote computer to the local computer as if you were copying from a C: drive to another drive on the same machine. Pretty cool. That's the extent of my knowledge of the differences other than the cost...which is really high for my personal use but may not be for actual businesses.

The Free version is pretty basic. Again, I haven't investigated the full functionality but what I use it for it works great. I mainly use it to remotely access one of my machines to either email a file or whatever to me. Sometimes I may just view this file on the remote machine because I need to know some quick information within the file and not the actual file.

What's nice about LogMeIn versus the remote desktop in Windows or some similar software (similar to the Windows remote desktop) is that I can list and access all my machines from one interface. I don't have to remember or find out the different IP addresses. I just click the name I gave the computer and I'm prompted for whatever username and password is required (if any) for the remote machine. If you have a fast enough machine or decent enough video card, you can adjust the display settings from functional to exactly what you see if you were physically on the remote machine. This is kind of nice but not really necessary if you aren't dealing with images. It also supports multiple monitors on the remote machine. I currently have a desktop that has two monitors and LogMeIn Free will allow me to switch between the two if needed. The really good thing that impressed me was that I was able to access my work computer through my work's firewall which I was unable to do through the Windows remote desktop after a firewall upgrade they made.

That's about the extent of my usage of LogMeIn. I really liked the drag-and-drop feature of Pro but the license pricing for a year is way out of my random-usage justification. I know there are plenty of remote desktop-type softare out there but I was looking for a very functional free version. At the time I was searching, most of the software was free-trial and then done unless you pay for the full version. LogMeIn was not and it's definitely worth checking into in my opinion.

Wicked Little Noise Isolating Stereo Earbuds

I purchased these little guys from Woot. I am always a little hesitant purchasing stuff like this whether it is at a store or especially online, although the store is a little easier to return the item to. I'm always wondering if I'm going to get my money's worth.

I'm not a huge audiophile in the sense that I don't need that extra crisp sound or perfectly toned low, mid and high ranges. I just want something to produce a pretty good sound with a fairly small price tag. I know brands like Bose are exceptional sounding products but $25, $50, $100 or more ear buds/phones are just a little ridiculous in my opinion for the every-day consumer. These products may be great for DJs or music producers but I think the layman that buys these is just flaunting their money. Again, I don't listen to my music much outside of my computer and when I do, I often have to keep the volume at a certain level to be able to hear my wife and/or kids if I am needed. The rare times I've been alone to enjoy my music are great but they are so rare that again I can't justify a high price tag.

They were being offered three for $9.99 and I could select three different colors, all different colors or two of one color...you get the picture. Although this seemed a great bargain, I was concerned about the low, low price reflecting the quality of this product. After reading some of the comments on Woot, I decided to take the plunge. I figured that $9.99 for three was better than for one. In the end if they weren't that great, they'd be acceptable enough and I didn't lose much money on the test try.

It's funny how karma works because a couple of days later I get an email from Buy.com for their daily/weekly deals. They had these earbuds listed for $19.99 which was a supposed savings of $20. There is another model that is showing for $9.99. I didn't pay too much attention to the exact model I was getting from Woot but either way, I feel I made out with a better deal.

The factory buds that came with the Zune were a tad too big with the smallest sized bud for my ears. They'd fit but they weren't comfortable having to be almost stuffed into my ear canal. LOL! They sounded pretty good but the comfort level just wasn't there. That's why I've been looking for new buds.

So, I got my order in a few days ago. The box looks pretty cool (inset) and the colors I chose were silver, blue and purple. They are a metallic sort of finish. The cord seems more durable than other buds I have had. It's more of a nylon cord. Well, it is a nylon cord but I think the nylon is wrapped around/over the normal plastic cord. I'm not totally positive. I'm not sure how this nylon cord is secured inside the bud part, like is it attached to the hard plastic of the bud or is it just attached with the thin copper wires sodered to the speaker part, I just don't know without taking it apart or breaking one for investigating purposes - not happening.

Anyway, I've only had a chance to test out one set (silver). All in all, I must say that I am impressed with the sound and product quality. I have a 30GB 1st gen Zune refurb that I bought on Woot about 3-4 years ago and it's still going strong [knock on wood]. I have a WIDE range of music (disco, pop, rock, new age, jazz, classical, country, rap, etc.) on this thing and the earbuds played all of them beautifully (in my non-audiophile-expert opinion). I'm using the smallest rubber condoms on the buds which allows it to slip snuggly and securely within my ear canal. This alone cancels a lot of background noise for me. I'm not sure if this is what they meant but it's almost like using those spongey orange ear plugs when shooting a gun.

Some of the bass was really impressive (again, to me). I couldn't believe that it was coming from such small speakers. By no means is it earth shattering or table rumbling but it was a very good sound. The treble wasn't ear-piercing. Some of my 80s hair band songs where the guy screams a long high not were not painful and I didn't hear any distortion from any other sound ranges.

The only thing that I don't like and it's not this product's fault is the quick, temporary "storage" of the buds, any buds, when I'm not using them for a brief moment or two. It's almost like I want the headphones of old but with the simplicity of the ear bud. Know what I mean? I can't take them out of my ears and have them hang around the back of my neck or anywhere for that matter comfortably and easily. I basically have to put them in a pocket, wrap them around the player, or whatever. Then when I want to use them again, I have to pull them out of the pocket or unwrap them from the player. It's kind of a pain. If it's a pain for me - a person that doesn't use an MP3 player all that often - then it's got to really suck for those others that are regular users of their MP3 players. I used to have some behind the head wrap-around head phones back in the 90s but I haven't purchased new ones since the CD player went out of style and the pricing has gotten outrageously high for a decent product. I am looking into getting some again but I have to find that good price tag for decent quality deal like I did with these earbuds!

There is my brief and non-expert review of the Wicked Little Buds Earphone. I hope it helps from a laymans view. As I mentioned there are two versions on Buy.com, they are the WI-2301 and the WI-2302. I don't know if there are more but that's all I found/saw at Buy.com. I also don't know what the difference other than price is between the 2301 and the 2302.

Spring Creek Barbeque - Richardson (US 75)

Took the kids to Spring Creek Barbeque in Richardson for dinner tonight. I got one of those ValPak mailings and it had a BOGO rib dinner for Spring Creek so I thought it was worth the investment for a taste test. I was still kind of wishy-washy because I didn't know how much one rib dinner cost and didn't want to make the drive to find out it was a lot more than I expected. Then I started thinking that even if the one dinner was like $15, I was getting 2 for $15 because of the coupon.

Anyway, we got there and it was kind of weird to see how they prepped it. Apparently the rib dinner is a hot item (I'm sure because of the coupon), and as such, we had to wait for our ribs to be "cooked" because of the demand and just how they "cook" them.

It seems that the ribs are pre-cooked, pre-smoked, or pre-whatever. They bring an ice chest, as just a carrying-type container because the ribs are hot and not on ice, from the back kitchen to a grill at the start of the order line. It's kind of cafeteria style where you order at one end and pick up your entree, sides, desserts, drinks while sliding your tray down towards the cashier. Think Luby's but with only barbecue.

Anyway, they pull the ribs out of the ice chest and put them on the grill. They slather something on it, a light baste for added flavoring and to prevent drying out during reheating...maybe. About 5-10 minutes later, they move the ribs to the chopping block and you get six decent sized ribs.

Now, because I'm a conscious shopper and a tightwad, I would not regularly pay about $11 for 6 ribs. $11 for 12 ribs is better but I still don't like spending that much on a set amount of ribs when I can get all-u-can-eat ribs at some place like North Main BBQ in Euless for $12 or Risky's BBQ in downtown Fort Worth for $9.95 + tax. I chalk it up to experience and because the kids were craving (one at least) ribs. Also because I'm in Dallas, North Main is in Euless and open only Fri-Sun and Risky's is in Fort Worth.

The ribs were pretty good. They weren't spectacular but the sauce was good and the meat on the ribs was a respectable amount. The ribs weren't cold but they weren't really hot either. I can't say for sure how hot they started as the kids ate them first while I ate a sliced beef sandwich. They may have cooled while I was eating my entree but I didn't see the kids wait to pick them up with their fingers nor hear them say something about them being too heated to handle.

On the topic of the sliced beef sandwich...I'd have to say that the meat was a tad dry. Dipping the meat or edge of sandwich into the sauce helped with the dryness but I would have expected a little more from a place with "BBQ" in its name.

Also, the economy must be affecting their business practices. I researched online before going and found that the bread rolls were excellent and they used to have a plethora of them being offered by someone walking the restaurant continuously. They did have a girl walking with a basket of rolls from table to table asking if patrons wanted hot bread but it was only after she had just freshly baked them. Once she was done, she headed back to the "baking" area and put some more rolls into the large ovens. By the looks of it, she probably cooked two dozen at a time. Being mindful that I was there around 7pm, a reasonable time for many people to have dinner, many of the patrons had to wait for bread after the initial offering of one roll during the order line.

The kids thought the ribs were pretty good and the bread was extremely good. They couldn't wait for the bread girl to come around the 2^nd and ^3rd time.

All in all, being a Spring Creek BBQ virgin, I'd have to say the food wasn't too bad. It wasn't awe-inspiring but with the help of the coupon, it was definitely worth the trip for a first-time tasting. Like I mentioned about a few other BBQ places in the general vicinity of my living abode, I wouldn't make the extra drive (about 7-10 minutes down the road depending on traffic and such) on a regular basis when Baker's Ribs or Peggy Sue's is just around the corner for about the same price. However, I would return to use the BOGO rib dinner coupon that lately seems to come regularly (I think they are celebrating something but not sure) in the ValPak.

Sent on the Super Jay Network from Super Jay's BlackBerry®

Remington Dual Flex Cordless Shaver

I purchased the Remington Dual Flex Cordless Shaver at Walgreens on Sunday. I figured it was worth a try for $19.99 + tax.

I was able to take it for a test drive this morning. I'm making a u-turn and returning the product!

I hadn't shaven for a few days so my facial hair was anywhere from a quarter to half inch long. The shaver pulled the hairs. I found that if I didn't rotate or move the shaver quickly that it didn't pull as much. What's the point?! It did cut the hairs that it wasn't pulling as well as eventually the pulled ones but the pulling was sort of unneeded and unwarranted pain.

Besides the pulling, it also razor-burned or just plain nearly skinned me on my neck area near my Adam's apple. Not something I like to have done to my skin.

I think my Mach 3 shaves safer and better. I just mostly like the electric shavers overall.

I may return it or exchange it and pay the difference for another electric shaver. I don't recall what kind for sure but I believe I saw a Braun or Norelco for something like $60-$80. I don't know if I can do any worse. My only thing is that I think I want to try the rotary razors as all my electric shavers have all been the same kind of straight cutting or side-to-side action versus circular. I don't know if they are actually better or not but, again, it's worth the try.

So, there's my take on the Remington Dual Flex Cordless Shaver. I was looking for a cheaply priced decent working shaver and I didn't find it in this product.

Canon PowerShot SX110 Digital Camera

In case anyone reading my blog (if there is anyone) wants a good, decent digital camera, I am selling mine. I'm an eBay seller/buyer as well as have a PayPal account and have been for quite some time. So, you can trust me, honest! I'm going to post on Craigslist as well and then maybe, eventually, eBay if no offers. If all else fails, I'll give it to my father-in-law or hock it at the pawn shop. LOL!

Anyways here is the low down:

I purchased this thing about two years ago, give or take a few months. I wanted a good point-and-shoot digital camera with an optical zoom greater the 3x. I researched for a couple of weeks or so by checking all the different web sites like CNET reviews and DPReview. I also looked at stores like Walmart, NewEgg, Buy.com and Amazon (basically those stores that carried the SX110 at the time) to check the reviews of other purchasers. After much deliberation, I decided on the PowerShot SX110. Of course, I got it way cheaper than probably most people at the time except for those that did their due diligence in price comparison like I did. I probably paid $50-$75 cheaper than the average MSRP.

Once I got it, I was excited to put it into action. It took a little getting used to because I'm used to a compact point-and-shoot where the flash would usually automatically flash/not flash. With the SX110, you had to flip the flash up to use it otherwise it wouldn't flash. Not a big deal once I got used to it but something I wasn't prepared for having to do. Not an issue, just something I noticed.

The camera takes great shots. It's a 9MP camera and it doesn't disappoint. The zoom is awesome as well. The 10x puts you right up to the action even though you may be sitting in the nose bleed section. The camera works well except for between shots. Once I took a shot, it took anywhere from 2-5 seconds before I'd see the LCD screen light back up letting me know it was ready to take another shot. That's not a big deal except for those times you try to catch candid moments and multiple "quick" shots will be necessary to hopefully catch one good shot. I know it's not a DSLR but my little compact Canon point-and-shoot takes pictures almost one after the other.

I played with a lot of the different modes just to see how they worked. All seemed to work well. I didn't ever use the continuous shooting, or what I call burst, mode to see if the camera was ready quicker to take multiple pictures. I don't know why but I guess it never crossed my mind.

Like a lot of the reviews say on Amazon, the battery life of this little powerhouse sucks! It uses two AA batteries which is nice because you can occasionally get a 40-50pk at Fry's or MicroCenter for around $10. The bad thing is that sometimes I'd put in newly purchased batteries and after about 5-10 minutes of shooting with the flash the LCD would say, "Low Battery". I'd be like, "WTF?" At first, thought it was because I would buy these 40pks and the batteries may have sat too long and gotten old. That's why I said, "newly purchased" to show that I did try to troubleshoot this issue. I didn't ever try NiCad AAs but I've heard that sometimes they work differently, better, than regular drain and trash batteries.

The pictures below show that the camera still works: pic 1 shows the LCD works; pic 2 shows the lens works; pic 3 shows the pristine front exterior of camera; pic 4 shows the pristine back exterior of camera.



Just so we are clear, there is nothing wrong with this camera. The reasons I am trying to sell is because (1) I just use my smaller compact 99% of the time since it fits way better inside a front jean pocket and (2) I wanted to be able to take a camera into the Stars or Mavs games to take pictures from the stratosphere in the American Airlines Center but I haven't been to but one or two games since purchasing this camera so it really hasn't been used for it's main purposes.

Click here for the official Product Page.

CyberpowerPC from NewEgg

On Tuesday, 9/29/09, I purchased a new desktop from NewEgg. It was delivered on Friday, 10/2/09. So far, I must say that I'm quite impressed with the service/shipping of NewEgg.

I didn't need a new desktop but I this one to replace (or compliment as they still function) two home-built machines that I put together about 5+ years ago. I figured that any PC that I purchased would be 5-10 times better than what I have because they've made such strides over the years since I built mine. My old PCs are exact in specs. I used an ASUS motherboard, 2 gigs of ram, AMD AthlonXP processors, 128MB ATI Radeon vid cards, my own WinXP Pro (2) operating system, some leftover CD burners that I later upgraded to DVD burners, etc. You get the picture...anything bought today will pretty much be faster than what I have...although they work with everything I currently play and use them for.

Anyway, the PC that I purchased was a CyberpowerPC. I can't say I've really heard of the Cyberpower brand but that doesn't mean too much. I researched quite a bit Of brands and waited for some time before purchasing. I initially looked at another brand that was on a really good sale. I saw it on SlickDeals. I can't remember the brand but I thought about it too damn long. You know, "Do I really need it? Is it really a good deal? How about I just upgrade some parts to my old machines. Do I really need it?" On and on and on. It lasted about an hour and then I decided to go for it and the "in-stock" status changed to "This item is temporarily out of stock." WTF?

So, with further research, I found the CyberpowerPC at NewEgg. I read the reviews there and other places before making my final decision. Once I was satisfied, I purchased because I didn't want to miss out on a good deal again. I didn't need a monitor as I have three 19" LCD monitors that work just fine and they were free. Maybe eventually I'll upgrade a bigger monitor but we'll have to see what the need will be later on.

So far, I think the new PC is speedy. It's only got one DVD burner and one 500GB hard drive but I will remedy that soon. I have two DVD and 2 CD burners in my old machine but I think I will just transfer one of the DVD burners to the new machine. I also have some extra older IDE (PATA?) drives at 120GB and 160GB that I may add to the new machine. I'm not totally positive on that as I can get a 500GB SATA drive for about $60 these days and there are like eight SATA ports on this motherboard. It does have the IDE slot which is convenient but I'm not sure I am still in the need of 120-160GBs of space. With so many different machines for the wife, kids and myself, backing up to a 120GB hard drive is not feasible unless I'm using it for one person which in itself is not feasible.

The things I don't like about this PC so far are minimal but noticeable and maybe fixable. I don't know why at this time but the power supply seems to be louder than the reviewers stated. I haven't checked it out thoroughly (at all...yet) but it could be anything from where I have it sitting to a vibration issue to ???. I just haven't taken the time to investigate yet because I've been loading it up with Office 2007, Firefox, Eraser, Replicator, Revo Uninstaller, and other programs.

I did run into an issue with an older game: Medal of Honor Allied Assault: Spearhead. I just installed it a few nights ago. I updated the game with it's required patches and quite a few downloaded maps. I started the game and it when through the initial loading screen and then I get the message about the program failing to start properly. It shuts down and Windows looks for a solution. No solution is found and so I'm stuck at this time not knowing what's wrong. I did take the time to Google the issue and some people have gotten it to work in various ways. I will try again when I have time but this is obviously a Vista problem as I've never had issue on my XP machines. It pisses me off because I think the programs should run without issue but who am I to criticize those that make software that isn't easily compatible with future upgrades. Again, I'm not sure what the culprit is but when I get around to it in the next few days or so, I will completely uninstall and retry. If I still have issue, I may just keep MOHAA:SH on my XP machine and play from there which sort of defeats the purpose of a new machine, right?! Oh well.

Another issue that is Vista related, is file/folder sharing. It's not easily done in Vista. Well, it may be easy for those who are "Vista experts" but for me who just started using Vista back in April and is probably not too invested in learning it because Windows 7 is on the breakout, it is annoying...no, it's fucking annoying! I have turned off password protected sharing thinking it would be easier. I right-click on the folder I want to share and click SHARE. I go through the steps of adding a user...one already on the machine as it hates me when I try to add someone not on the machine. Actually, I tried adding a name that is not a user on the machine and it pops up another window. I haven't fully read and comprehended what this window is asking because I got frustrated thinking this should be way easier and just closed it. I will try to pay more attention next time. Anyway, I have also right-clicked on the folder to share and selected PROPERTIES. In the properties box, I select the SHARING tab and create a name for the folder ending with the dollar sign ($ - although I'm not sure if this is still required for the 'secret' folder sharing). On this same tab, I add permissions for a user account on the machine and off with the same outcome as before. I then go on another XP and Vista machine and try to access that folder through the network. I got it to work on 2 out of 3 folders for the Vista machine and 1 out of 3 (I only tried one) on the XP machine. I don't know for sure why the 3rd folder is inaccessible other than maybe because it's not under one of the three folders of DOCUMENTS, MUSIC, or VIDEOS in Vista. I just don't think it should be this hard and involved to share a fucking folder on my own internal network. Again, it could be that I'm pretty much a Vista virgin but if I'm having troubles, just think of the people that are really ignorant to technology since I consider myself as a power user (maybe more) but I also know how to Google for solutions or troubleshoot on my own. I just loved the convenience in XP of right-clicking the folder, selecting share, check two boxes, name the folder mydocs$, then OK or APPLY. B a.m! Done! Lickity split!

I really like the machine overall so far. I haven't done a whole lot with it. I have burned a DVD (my own copy for testing), downloaded files via uTorrent, and watched a few DVD, AVI, MPEG, MP4 movies via WMP and VLC. I've done a few other things like installing/using Picasa3, Media Monkey but when I have a new laptop, netbook, reloading the older XP machine (2 down to 1), and a new desktop, I don't always get to put a whole lot of time into one thing for an extended amount of time. I have to multitask and sometimes it's only 2-3 or 3-4 things at a time or just one. With work, family and school, it's tough to find the "Jay time."

Oh yeah, the mouse and keyboard that come with it is functional although there aren't any hot keys to mute or adjust volume, to control media, or whatever. They are basically for input only. The included video handles dual monitor just fine. Now, it doesn't do the SLI (I think) handling but it allows you to extend your desktop without issue. I don't need this functionality but it has been nice when I am watching a movie in the VLC player and then I surf the web or whatever on the other screen. The 500GB hard drive is small compared to other newer machines but it's not like I can't get a 640GB, 750GB, 1TB drive for $100 or less these days if need be. I do have a 640GB SATA drive that I will probably add as an extra drive and down the road a 1TB as I need more room for backups from the many machines I previously mentioned. I also removed the cover/door to the disk drives as it was a pain in the ass to have to open it and close it and open it and close it to put in a CD/DVD. It does detract from the sleekness of the tower but I'm more about convenience and ease...if you haven't already gotten that.

And that's my basic review of the CyberpowerPC Gamer Ultra 2012. I've included some unboxing photos just for the hell of it. I swear I turned the ones that needed it in Picasa (and saved changes) but for some reason they uploaded in their original format. I think it still works though.

Writing product review at Newegg.com

I purchased a product the other day from NewEgg and thought, "Hey, I purchased something else from NewEgg a few months ago. I should write a review.

The item I purchased was the Samsung N110 netbook. I didn't get to use it for a few weeks or so after initial delivery because I didn't tell the wife. So, I had to sneak around with it to get it setup and such. I know that's wrong but she would have been okay with it anyway...maybe. LOL!

So anyhow, I started writing the review, even completed it and hit SUBMIT. And, this is the message that I got (inset pic, you'll need to click on it to zoom).

I thought it was funny because I don't recall typing any offensive words. It highlighted the infringing term: "eBay." After further and deeper reading and understanding of the "agreement," I saw that it said something about no inappropriate language AND posting of it's competitor's.

So my assumption is that eBay is fierce competitor for NewEgg. Or is it a profanity...in some circles?

Anyway, just thought it was interesting.