Archive for the 'News' Category

AT&T MPLS Router Install Tour ‘08

Whew! Well, I just walked in the door to my house. After a long week of driving over 1300 miles and installing seven new routers on my network, I’ve finally made it back home.

Tuesday, I drove to Dallas. I installed a Cisco 2821 (using BGP redistributed into OSPF) with four T1s and a Cisco 2801 with a single T1 for internet access.

Wednesday, I drove to Houston. I installed a Cisco 2821 with two T1s and a Cisco 2801 with a single T1 for internet.

Thursday, I drove to New Orleans. I installed a Cisco 2821 with three T1s. Thursday night, I hung out over at a long-time friend’s house and drank a few New Castles, and we ate at an awesome Mexican place called Juan’s Flying Burrito on Carrollton in Mid City. Good times, indeed. I love New Orleans.

Friday, I drove back to Jackson. I had to configure two Cisco switches for a project next week. I installed a 2801 router w/ two T1s for internet too. I also went to Ryan’s office for a short while this afternoon to fix some file permissions on a tikiwiki install he’s customizing for a client.

Wow! A full and busy week for me! I’m very glad to be home.
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George Lucas Wearing ‘Han Shot First’ Shirt

We all know Han Solo blasted Greedo first (wiki link) and it was a travesty when they changed it in the re-release. And we also know Han was the first to blast Carrie Fisher. So what’s up with the shirt? Per my tipster, Jon:

Great, now that we all agree George, give me my fucking cleaned up version of the original trilogy on DVD and Blu-Ray you Ewok/Jar-Jar/CGI loving asshole!

Thanks Jon, now settle down lest us Star Warriors catch the same bad rap as those crazy raging Trekkies.

Scene Stealer [latimes]

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Alice, a song and video composed from the Disney movie’s audiobits.


Remixed into being by 19-year old Nick Bertke, who is based in Australia. Link to video on YT, found on Kottke, with this link to audio download. What a sweet little unicorn chaser of a video this is. (Thanks, Susannah Breslin!)

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Netflix Player by Roku

Au revoir, Apple TV. The new Netflix Player by Roku ($100) lets you watch movies and TV shows from your Netflix queue, right on your TV, without ever going to the mail box. The streaming set-top box provides instant access to more than 10,000 movies and TV shows (currently about 10% of the Netflix library). Surprisingly compact (approximately 5″ x 5″ x 2″), the Netflix Player features Wired Ethernet and Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g), HDMI and Component Video, and comes with a simple remote that lets you make selections, rate movies, and fast-forward or rewind video streams. The best part is that there’s no extra costs in all of this. You just have to buy the box and have a Netflix subscription. Awesome.

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Update: There was a decent review of the Roku on DL.TV this week. It only makes me want one even more.

Dude wires his own muscles into an analog synth circuit

Cameron writes: “I’ve been working on a bit of DIY I think you’ll find interesting; I built a little analog amp/feedback system and I’m using electrodes attached to my forearms to control the thing. The feedback path runs through my body and creates the oscillations you hear. It sounds a bit like a theremin but I would say it already has a broader sound palette, though keeping it under control can prove to be a challenge.” My favourite line from the video: “Immediately, you will hear the sounds of my muscles.” So. Is this BS, old science, or something new?

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AT&T plans 20-megabit 3G by 2009

AT&T’s cellular Internet access will be more than five times faster in 2009 than it is this year, the company’s mobility chief Ralph de la Vega said today at Morgan Stanley’s annual Communications Conference. The executive says that the company’s HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) network will be improved from the theoretical peak downloads of 3.6 megabits per second common across most of the network today to about 20 megabits per second in 2009.

In spite of the increase in speed, the improvement won’t require a major reworking of AT&T’s existing cell tower infrastructure and will primarily involve a software upgrade for the network, de la Vega explains. He adds that an interim HSPA upgrade to 7.2 megabits per second is already “in the labs” and that the company’s Option network cards are already capable of the 7.2Mbps speed.

This quick ramp-up in speed is why AT&T isn’t concerned about the expansion of Sprint’s Xohm and the unified Clearwire WiMAX service, he says. Although WiMAX will be available this year and is considered 4G, AT&T’s time-to-market for its upgraded 3G will allow it to offer competitive speeds across a wider area sooner than the new challenger.

The company official also reiterated AT&T’s plans to offer 700MHz 4G access through the Long Term Evolution standard by approximately 2010, when peak downloads should near the 100-megabit mark. Verizon also plans 700MHz LTE of its own but plans to launch slightly earlier, unveiling an early network in late 2009.

Both the improved 3G as well as 4G are considered essential by most experts for broadband-level services on cellular networks, including two-way video calling, permanent video downloads, and real-time online apps such as multiplayer games. De la Vega acknowledged that AT&T would have to shift its emphasis from traditional calls to Internet features in the process.

“The future is all about data,” according to the AT&T senior official.

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Soda can synchronization

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Instant Kitchen

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You’ve made it. You’re in the big city, living the dream. In an apartment the size of a small bathroom. With no kitchen in sight. Enter the Hansen Living Instant Kitchen ($TBD). This all-in-one unit contains everything you need — oven, gas jets, electric power, refrigerator and sink. Installation involves wrangling it up two flights of narrow stairs and hooking it up to a water supply and plugging it into an electric outlet. [via]

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Nine Inch Nails Release New Album “The Slip” for Free

A mere two months after surprising fans with the web-released Ghosts I-IV and two weeks after surprising radio stations with new single “Discipline,” Trent Reznor and his prolific Nine Inch Nails announced this morning that their hinted-at new album The Slip was available as a free and immediate download. According to Reznor, the album is being given away for free as a “thank you to our fans for your continued support.” The album features ten tracks and is once again licensed by Creative Commons, allowing fans to remix it, repost it and do what they wish with it. Reznor also promises CD and vinyl copies in July.

[Photo: Getty]

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Through Fire and Flames

I’ve been playing Guitar Hero III quite a bit since the St Patrick’s Day parade on 3/17/2008 this year.

Just doing some surfing around on YouTube, these videos came across my path, and I just wanted to share them. They are both videos of Through Fire and Flames by Dragonforce. One is of this badass college kid playing TFaF on expert on GH3. The other is someone that composed TFoF in some sort of emulated Mario Paint composer program. Both are very impressive. I’m in awe of both individual videos.