This blog is moving

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:The Blind Geek is moving to http://www.adxnetwerkz.com, see you there!

GWConnect, Client Or Crap?

Because I got tired of the twitter inquiries and whatnot, I decided to post my spiel about the GWConnect program here. So here goes:

When it was first released by GW Micro, I was convinced to try out their Skype client GWConnect.

I was immediately displeased with both the program’s controls and it’s audio quality (or lack thereof). I was further irritated by the rude, intrusive ads that constantly interrupted my conversations. These feelings were shared with the developer to no avail. You can, apparently, remove the irritating ads by purchasing the program from GW Micro. Now, my question there is:

Why in the 9 hells would I pay one company to use another company’s service that is offered free of charge?

Answer:

I wouldn’t and I won’t. Period.

When GW Connect 2.0 was released, I decided, against my better judgment, to give it another shot. Man, was that a mistake!

Not only is it a heap of ad-ridden crapware, but if anything, the audio quality was worse than before.

I really wanted to keep this short and sweet, so in closing I’ll just say that it seems foolish to me to pay for a program that does the same thing as Skype for Windows when it isn’t any more accessible or useful. But then again, this is what I should expect from a company that charges $900 for a screen reader that is so inferior to the free screen reader NVDA (Non-Visual Desktop Access) that it isn’t even funny.

Well, as we say over at Geeks On A Leash, I look forward to your hate mail. :p

The $100 Component #DIYPC

Greetings my little geeklings!

As some of you know, I recently challenged myself to design a robust, Windows 7 based PC with the stipulation that no individual component could cost over $100. After a couple rough drafts of the design, I feel I have put together a fairly impressive system considering the limitations I set for myself in this endeavor.

So, without any further gilding the lily, and without any ado whatsoever, I give you the $100 DIY PC:

Since it is the backbone all other components are dependent on, I will start off with the motherboard:

GIGABYTE GA-A75-D3H FM1 AMD A75 (Hudson D3) SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard

The choice to go with this model was simple. It fit my desire to use AMD’s FM1 socket.

It has plenty of SATA 6G ports.

It supports up to 32GB of DDR3.

It sports a dedicated USB 3.0 controller and plenty of ports.

·         The available PCI-X slots leave plenty of upgrade room.

Motherboard cost: $89.99 before $10 rebate.

On to the CPU behind this machine:

After deciding on AMD’s FM1 line, I chose the AMD A6-3670K Unlocked Llano 2.7GHz Socket FM1 100W Quad-Core Desktop APU (CPU + GPU) with DirectX 11 Graphic AMD Radeon HD 6530D AD3670WNGXBOX.

Simply put, this is the best socket FM1 proc that $100 can buy. ‘Nuff said!

Cost: $89.99.

On to a product near and dear to my heart, RAM!

For this build, I chose CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) memory.

Sporting 16GB in dual channel setup, and coming under budget for this caliber of gaming memory, I couldn’t resist using it in the build.

Cost: $94.99.

Next up: Storage!

I went with one of my favorite setups for storage on this build.

Handling the OS and programs is a ADATA Premier Pro SP900 ASP900S3-128GM-C 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) both for it’s Gig per dollar ratio and it’s impressive read/write speeds at its price point.

Cost: $99.99.

Media storage is handled by a Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive.

This is one of the best 1TB 7200RPM drives out there and an easy choice to serve our media storage needs.

Cost: $89.99.

Even in our world of high capacity, high speed flash media, a solid and reliable optical drive is still essential.

It was, therefore an easy choice to include the LITE-ON 24X DVD Writer.

This drive offers excellent read/write speeds, solid performance and comes in well under our $100 limit.

Cost: $22.99.

This system is built for power on a budget, but don’t think for a minute that we’ve skimped on power. Why build a custom Corvette and then put an old Chevy Cavalier engine in it? Not happening here brother!

Powering this mofo is a Rosewill Xtreme Series RX750-S-B 750W Continuous @40°C ,80 PLUS Certified, ATX12V v2.2 & EPS12V v2.91,.

This little beauty really gets the job done. It sports plenty of power for this build, multiple 12V rails and is SLI and Crossfire-X ready. All this and under budget too!

Cost: $94.99.

All these glorius guts need an equally impressive chassis, right?

I chose to pack all this goodness into a Thermaltake V9 BlacX Edition Gaming Chassis Mid Tower Steel Computer Case.

This sexy beast sports plenty of internal room, 2 SATA HDD docks, bottom-mounted PSU area and plenty of fans to keep all that hotness running cool.

Cost: $99.99.

Of course, we’ll be running Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit.

It’s the standard, what can I say? :p

Cost: $99.99.

This being the Blind Geek, I also must recommend a screen reader, shouldn’t I?

This choice was never even in doubt. The only real choice here is NVDA (Non-Visual Desktop Access).

Cost: $0!

This system comes in right at $800 for parts and shipping from our friends at Newegg.

So, if you’re looking for a new rig, this could very well be a very viable option for you. Whether you piece this rig together yourself, or let us here at the Blind Geek do it for you, I encourage you to take a serious look at these components for building on a budget.

Thanks for reading and I look forward to your barrage of suggestions to tweak the build.

Happy building!

FireFox, dear FireFox, why must you piss me off...

So, as most of you who haven’t been hiding under a rock for the last week should know, Mozilla’s flagship browser FireFox has been updated to the latest and greatest version. This brings the version number of this favorite among browsers to 14.

One would think that at version 14 that Mozilla would have figured out how to add features and fix bugs without introducing a host of new issues, but this, as I always fear, was not the case.

While I have only put the browser through its paces on a fraction of my weekly requirements, I have already discovered a glaring issue. One so troubling to my Alpha-Nerd self that I felt compelled to post it here in the hopes of not only warning others of the issue, but also making myself feel a little better in the process.

The issue of which I speak concerns using the browser in conjunction with the MacDaddy of all screen readers NVDA (Non-Visual Desktop Access) http://www.nvda-project.org and any WordPress site management tool. In my case, I speak of the WP Admin tool for websites offered by most decent hosting providers (I use/recommend Netfirms http://www.netfirms.com). The first glaring issue is that the NVDA cursor tends to get thrown around the page, seemingly at random. This is extremely irritating, but not a game-breaker for me, as I can usually get back to where I was going without much difficulty. The second issue, however, is more troubling. When composing a new post (which is how the Geeks On A Leash podcast is posted) immediately upon pressing the “Publish” button, FireFox crashes and must be reopened. Again, this wouldn’t be too much of a concern if not for it’s interesting side effect of posting the new post multiple times, necessitating a foray into the post listing to delete the duplicates. Lastly, and most irritating of all is the shiny new browser’s inability or refusal to play content using the embedded WordPress media player. You can mash on the “Play” buttons until your fingers rot to no avail. While this does not affect the majority of our listeners who listen to the Geeks On A Leash podcast via iTunes or other podcast management software, it is a major concern for our listeners who listen via the website (http://www.geeksonaleash.com) and use FireFox with their screen reader.

Well, I feel a little better having vented my frustration with this issue here, but rest assured, I’ll still be pursuing the issue in more official channels.

Until then, may your glass be full and your inbox empty!

Woof!

Blogger kills its own accessibility…

My purpose in writing this post is twofold:

1.) It has been brought to my attention that I have been neglecting my duties here. I therefore decided to pop in for a spell and pinch off a few nuggets of thoughts to share with you, my adoring (if small) audience.

2) It has recently (like about 30min ago as of this writing) come to my attention that the lovely, caring & accessibility oriented folks at Google (read that sarcasm there?) have updated the Blogger interface, making it mostly inaccessible to screen reader users on both the Windows and Mac platforms.
While this in no way surprises me given Google's hideous track record for accessibility, it does piss me off a good bit. I'm beginning to believe that Google and Facebook would make great partners in unscrupulous fornication due to their tendency to screw things up the minute they actually start to work in a partially satisfactory manner.

All this being said, Blogger is still accessible for us blind types via the iOS app as evidenced by my posting this for your reading pleasure.

If following this as it unfolds doesn't drive me batty, I may post updates in the comments below.

Until then Blogger/Google, consider your ass in the doghouse!

Woof!


- Posted using BlogPress from my jailbroken iPhone4S running iOS 5.0.1. Suck it Android!

200 Things About Me

The following is an interesting list of questions sent to me by a friend.

I encourage you to share them and share your answers in the comments below (if it will allow comments that long).

200: My middle name is: It’s a secret cause I hate it!

199: I was born in: 1976 in Tucson, AZ.

198: I am really: Wanting to be done with school.

197: My cellphone company is: Verizon

196: My eye color is: Blue

195: My shoe size is: 11

194: My ring size is: 10 I think (maybe 9 now, not sure).

193: My height is: 5ft, 11in.

192: I am allergic to: Penicillin & whiners.

191: My 1st car was: 1992 Mitsubishi Mirage.

190: My 1st job was: Chef at Samurai (Japanese Restaurant) :D.

189: Last book you read: “Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson.

188: My bed is: A burgundy sea of memory foam! :D

187: My pet: and I haven’t met yet… L

186: My favorite shampoo: AXE moisturizing with Tea Tree Oil.

185: Piggy banks are: Too noisy/difficult to sneak change out of when you’re a kid. ;)

184: In my pockets: My iPhone 4S 64GB and a bottle of Hydrocodone!

183: On my calendar: Not much ‘til 1/17/12… ;)

182: Marriage is: Supposed to be for better or worse, in sickness and in health, ‘til death do you part…

179: SpongeBob can: Double as a feminine hygiene product!

178: My mom: was lost to me far too early in life… (1^st day of High School)

177: The last three cd's I bought were? Newsboys, Kutless & Stellar Kart!

176: Last YouTube video watched: “Armada Latina” by Cypress Hill featuring Marc Anthony & PitBull.

175: How many cousins do you have? NO clue…

173: Are your parents divorced? My Mom is dead and I never knew who my male genetic material donor was. (Being a father is more than providing sperm).

172: Are you taller than your mom? Yup, she was only 4’11”.

171: Do you play an instrument? once upon a time, thinking of playing guitar again. ;)e

170: What did you do yesterday? Ran errands and recorded an interview for a radio show.

[ I Believe In ]

169: Love at first sight: Love, no. Attraction/infatuation, yes.

168: Luck: sometimes

167: Fate: Yes, God has a purpose for each of us, that is our “fate”.

166: Yourself: Always, if I don’t believe in something & my ability to do it, I shouldn’t be doing it.

165: Aliens: Not as portrayed by movies/TV.

164: Heaven: Undoubtedly!

163: Hell: Ayup…

162: God: Absolutely!!

161: Horoscopes: Lame!

160: Soul mates: Yes.

159: Ghosts: Not really…

158: Gay Marriage: Is NOT for me haha

157: War: Sucks, but is sometimes unavoidable.

156: Orbs:WTH??

155: Magic: Only the magic of Christmas & the laughter of children!

[ This or That ]

154: Hugs or Kisses: Why not both?

153: Drunk or High: Neither really anymore, grew out of that…

152: Phone or Online: Depends on situation.

151: Red heads or Black haired: Red, black, white or brown, they’re all beautiful!!!

150: Blondes or Brunettes: See above, LOL!

149: Hot or cold: Depends. Tea? Weather? Pizza? ;)

148: Summer or winter: summer

147: Autumn or Spring: Both, mild is nice!

146: Chocolate or vanilla: Butter Pecan?

145: Night or Day: Night

144: Oranges or apples? Fruit salad!

145: Curly or Straight hair: No preference.

142: McDonalds or Burger King: Umm, Hamburger Stand…

141: White Chocolate or Milk Chocolate: Milk, but both have their place.

140: Mac or PC: I use both, linux as well.

139: Flip flops or high heels: Umm… You prolly don’t wanna see me in either! ;)

138: Ugly and rich OR Sexy and poor: Doesn’t matter, it’s what’s in your heart and mind that matter!

137: Coke or Pepsi: Iced Tea, I don’t drink soda…

136: Hillary or Obama: neither

135: Buried or cremated: Cremated, after donating organs!

134: Singing or Dancing: Umm, you prolly don’t want me to do either! ;)

133: Coach or Chanel: Ummm….

132: Kat McPhee or Taylor Hicks: Hicks for voice, but McPhee was drop-dead gorgeous!

131: Small town or Big city: Depends on my mood…

130: Wal-Mart or Target: Wally world, WalMartians are funny!

129: Ben Stiller or Adam Sandler: Seth Rogen!

128: Manicure or Pedicure: Pedicure, it would only cost me half as much! (sick humor!)

127: East Coast or West Coast: West! (Better Sushi!!!)

126: Your Birthday or Christmas: Christmas fo’ sho’ !

125: Chocolate or Flowers: Depends on what I did this time. ;)

124: Disney or Six Flags: Whatever, just get me on a coaster!

123: Yankees or Red Sox: how about football, B-Ball or Hockey instead?

[ Here's What I Think About ]

122: War: I’d rather not, but if it’s unavoidable, let’s at least do it right and get it over quickly.

121: George Bush: Depends, we talking junior or senior?

120: Gay Marriage: is kind of an oxymoron IMHO (speaking biblically, it’s actually only a “union”)

119: The presidential election: scares me… Can I vote for my favorite pair of sweats instead?

118: Abortion: Pro-Life and no one can change my mind ever!

117: MySpace: is where musicians go to die.

116: Reality TV: 99% Horse crap…

115: Parents: are a treasure…

114: Back stabbers: disappointing.

113: eBay: Useful and fun!

112: Sex: one of the most amazing, intimate experiences 2 married people can share!

111: Work: isn’t going to do itself, go put boots to asses!

110: My Neighbors: are really nice.

109: Gas Prices: are manageable if you know our tricks! :D

108: Designer Clothes: Not worth the cost of their packaging!

107: College: I’ve met the most awesome people! (you know who you are!)

106: Sports: Awesome! (Football, B-Ball, Hockey, MMA)

105: My family: My little girls are the major source of light and joy in my life!

104: The future: is what you make it.

[ Last time I ]

103: Hugged someone: Just a few minutes ago!

102: Last time you ate: Right now. ;)

101: Saw someone I haven't seen in a while: Umm, well, loaded question for me…

100: Cried in front of someone: Been a while.

99: Went to a movie theater: When Lion King came back to theaters.

98: Took a vacation: A long, long time…

97: Swam in a pool: Been years…

96: Changed a diaper: A few years…

95: Got my nails done: Uh… Yeah… Not so much…

94: Went to a wedding: Not since my own…

93: Broke a bone: Never.

92: Got a piercing: A few months ago.

91: Broke the law: Um… *glances around nervously* :P

90: Texted: This morning.

[ MISC ]

89: Who makes you laugh the most: My girls.

88: Something I will really miss when I leave home is: I left home 16 years ago. Miss lots of stuff…

87: The last movie I saw: It’s A Wonderful Life 4 or 5 days ago.

86: The thing that I'm looking forward to the most: Each new day I’m blessed to wake up and be a dad!

85: The thing I'm not looking forward to: Waking up each day and still being blind and diabetic… (hey, we’re being truthful here, right?)

84: People call me: Inspirational, but I don’t see it… ^_^

83: The most difficult thing to do is: Be alone…

82: I have gotten a speeding ticket: Yup, a long, long time ago in a state far, far away. ;)

81: My zodiac sign is: Dunno, was Sagittarius, not sure anymore… Doesn’t really matter anyway.

80: The first person I talked to today was: Heather Reed

79: First time you had a crush: 6^th grade, my teacher Ms. Newcomb. She was a hot blonde California beach girl!

78: The one person who I can't hide things from: Not sure, I’m pretty good at sealing stuff away inside… (not a good thing I realize)

77: Last time someone said something you were thinking: Almost every time I talk to Ivan or Debbie on Skype.

76: Right now I am talking to: Just my keyboard occasionally… ;)

75: What are you going to do when you grow up: Just be the best Daddy I can be for my little girls!

74: I have/will get a job: that I enjoy and can be proud of at the end of the day.

73: Tomorrow: am having waffles for breakfast! Omnomnom!

72: Today: is almost over…

71: Next Summer: I will be taking classes to get ahead in my degree…

70: Next Weekend: BBQ Time!!

69: I have these pets: None at the moment…

68: The worst sound in the world: Self-absorbed people whining about their lives…

67: The person that makes me cry the most is: ????

66: People that make you happy: My daughters.

65: Last time I cried: I always get all sniffly during “It’s A Wonderful Life”! *sheepish grin*

64: My friends are: Beautiful, inside and out! :)

63: My computer is: a beast of a machine that I built myself!

62: My School: Casper College… For now…

61: My Car: 2003 Chevy Venture.

60: I lose all respect for people who: are fake.

59: The movie I cried at was: See above…

58: Your hair color is: Brown.

57: TV shows you watch: Not much really… Currently watching BBC’s “Merlin”.

56: Favorite web site: http://www.geeksonaleash.com

55: Your dream vacation: Tortola, British Virgin Islands!

54: The worst pain I was ever in was: Um, tough call, but my current ordeal is right up there… (Amputations hurt more than a little)…

53: How do you like your steak cooked: Medium-Rare.

52: My room is: Far smaller than I’d like it to be. ;)

51: My favorite celebrity is: Tough call between Alyssa Milano & Sandra Bullock, they are both sweet, amazing, genuine people.

50: Where would you like to be: A leper colony on Malaga… I’d be the most handsome guy there! (anyone get the movie reference?)

49: Do you want children: Been there, got the T-Shirt! ;)

48: Ever been in love: A couple times…

46: More guy friends or girl friends: Pretty close, but more ladies I think…

45: One thing that makes you feel great is: Getting a hug and an “I love you” from my girls!

44: One person that you wish you could see right now: My buddy Ben…

43: Do you have a 5 year plan: A somewhat malleable one…

42: Have you made a list of things to do before you die: Yup, crossed a few of them off as well!

41: Have you pre-named your children: Prolly not having any more…

40: Last person I got mad at: My roomy in the hospital… What a dingleberry…

39: I would like to move to: Somewhere warmer eventually… Like back to Arizona!

38: I wish I was a professional: musician…

[ My Favorites ]

37: Candy: 3 Musketeers

36: Vehicle: The McLaren F1!

35: President: anyone but the current one! I was a big fan of Reagan.

34: State visited: North Carolina.

33: Cellphone provider: T-Mobile.

32: Athlete: Retired: Michael Jordan. Current: Derrick Rose.

31: Actor: Jimmy Stewart.

30: Actress: Sandra Bullock, always crushed on her!

29: Singer: I like so many, but Bob Seger is ageless!

28: Band: Def Leppard & The Beatles.

27: Clothing store: American Eagle, but usually just Wally’s or Target…

26: Grocery store: Locally: Smith’s, Ever: Haggen’s in Oregon.

25: TV show: CSI, the original one. ;)

24: Movie: With Honors!

23: Website: We covered this earlier, but: http://www.geeksonaleash.com...

22: Animal: Frogs.

21: Theme park: The Six-Flags in St. Louis, MO!

20: Holiday: Christmas!

19: Sport to watch: Football!

18: Sport to play: Mixed Martial Arts.

17: Magazine: Maximum PC.

16: Book: Anything written by Mr. Raymond E. Feist!!!

15: Day of the week: Wednesday, cause it is the only day that sounds different than the rest in German (Mittwoch)…

14: Beach: Tortola, British Virgin Islands!

13: Concert attended: Newsboys, Kutless & Stellar Kart in Eugene, Oregon!

12: Thing to cook: Anything Japanese! (I even brew my own Teriyaki Sauce!)

11: Food: Japanese, specifically Sushi!

10: Restaurant: Locally: Poor Boy’s, Ever: This little Irish place on the island of Gibraltar.

9: Radio station: Locally: 107.9 The River, In general: FM99 in Norfolk, Virginia.

8: Yankee candle scent: No clue… I like cinnamon or Pachoulle (spelling?) if they have those.

7: Perfume: IDK something that doesn't smell like ass!

6: Flower: Lillies/anything that smells nice.

5: Color: Again, we covered this earlier, but it’s green.

4: Talk show host: Rachael Ray.

3: Comedian: Many, but a huge fan of Jeff Dunham and Gabriel Iglesias!

2: Dog breed: Great Dane.

1: Will you copy and paste as your status?: Duh, were you dropped on your head as a child? ;)

Population Vs. Environment

The following is what I submitted for my final writing assignment for my Sociology 1000 class. We were challenged to write a 1 page, double spaced paper on our thoughts regarding How population effects the environment in both wealthy and poor areas. We were also to provide our thoughts on how to best protect the environment.

Enjoy!

In the battle of humanity versus the environment, one thing is clear: the World will win. That being said, we seem to be doing our best to cause as much damage as possible. We can clearly see this when we look at environmental issues in wealthy countries such as the U.S. and other developed nations. A prime example is our inability to eat most of the fish that we can catch in the wilds of our fair country. Every state has at least some limitations to the amount of wild fish that can be safely consumed due to mercury contamination. In the poorer, less developed countries of the world this is less prevalent as industry and population centers have not caused as much environmental contamination.

I believe the best thing we, as a society, can do to limit the degradation of our environmental quality is to be more conscious of the effect we are having on our environment. We need to closely monitor both the rate at which we are consuming fossil fuels as well as better understanding and managing the effect the processing and use of these fuels have on our environment. The search for better alternatives to these energy sources is also a vital endeavor. This is true for two reasons. We can not ignore the ramifications of the use of current fossil fuels. We must also be prepared that these natural resources will not last forever. In the end however, I do believe that the final score will be World 1, Humanity 0.