Moving to Google+

Soon, this domain will forward to Google+, but if you come across this blog and would like to see up to date information, go here:

http://gplus.to/darkmage

If you need an invite to Google+, just ask!

On the Radar: Green Lantern, Cowboys vs Aliens

I could not be more excited about these movies. 2011 is already shaping up to be amazing.

Cowboys vs Aliens (Yahoo Movies):

Green Lantern (YouTube):



Enjoy!

Review: ImTOO DVD Ripper

Something that has been bothering me lately is, what happened to simple ripping of DVDs? I know that I used to do this without too much complication years ago, but my last few attempts have not gone well. So, I have been in search of a solution. My latest attempt? ImTOO DVD Ripper. Although I evaluated the Windows version, I give them credit for also making a Mac version. ImTOO is better known for their video and audio converters, which they've also ported to Mac.

For now, I stuck with the evaluation version, until I am convinced it will work. The price is steeper than I would normally pay for software like this ($40-60), but if it works, it would be worth it. The interface is definitely impressive. It's very clean. The basic buttons for the main functions are clear and obvious, but there are many places to easily access more advanced customization options.

A major win for it is its long list of conversion profiles. I like having the option to specify custom destination formats, but most of the time I'd prefer to just pick the target format I want and hit "rip". There are actually profiles for multiple specific Android phones! Most of my video watching is over the lan to my Xbox360, so I picked XBox360 - WMV Video for my testing.

The evaluation version will only rip the first three minutes, but that's more than enough to analyze quality. I wanted the test to be more real-world, so I used a very average desktop computer to do the rip. I was hopeful that the stuttering problems I've had with previous applications wouldn't plague me here, as the app had a real-time CPU usage meter that was running even when it wasn't ripping...that indicated to me some optimization. The results were mixed, however. The speed of the rip was impressive...unfortunately, the final product had some stuttering. I'd have preferred if the rip took a little longer, but worked smoothly.

To be fair, the PC I ran this on is rather long in the tooth. I have a brand new Core i7 machine arriving tomorrow. At that point, I will test on it and update the post. However, due to the power of that machine, I will be trying to rip to an even higher-bitrate profile. I will update this post when I have completed the new tests.

In conclusion, I see a lot of potential in ImTOO DVD Ripper. The interface is cleaner than the competition, and it's profiles are phenomenal. But, like all modern encoders, it looks like it wants a good amount of horsepower to produce good results.

Another Reboot

A tweet from @GaryVee has me listening to him talking on an internet radio show about, what else, his personal branding and all that he has done. His passion and sincerity is infectious. So, I'm back here again, trying to kick this in gear again. I've had a lot of upheaval and change in my life, and have settled on "temet nosce" from The Matrix as my view of life. You have to know yourself, and be true to yourself, and everything else will come easily.

Expect more articles, and hopefully a restart of the radio show idea. Thank you for keeping this site bookmarked, or the rss in your reader. I'll do my best to make it pay dividends.

A Quick Rant on Geek Lemmings

There's one personality trait with geeks that really drives me nuts, and that is their horrible lemming tendencies. I think it comes from generally not being very social creatures. They want to feel part of a larger group. I can somewhat accept it when it comes to tech issues, because they/we feel we know it all. Vista is a great example. See Jim Louderback's post for more on that.

But today the Haterade is being poured by the bucket onto Jim Cramer, and I've had about as much as I can take. You see, there are two deities in the Geek crowd to which they will never disagree, and follow with near religious fervor: Steve Jobs and John Stewart. The Daily Show, a comedy/variety news spoof program, has become the Geek Generation's CBS Evening News, and Stewart is their Dan Rather. If he says it, it must be true.

In reality the comparison is fairly justified. Like Rather, Stewart has an obvious political angle and fabricates news to push his agenda. In reality it's just to get ratings and be humorous. He can take any guest and turn an interview into a Friar's Club Roast in 10 seconds flat. This is what he did to Jim Cramer Thursday night.

Now, Cramer brought it on himself. Taking good-natured jabs at The Daily Show will get this response, and honestly the publicity (of which there's no bad kind) has been good for both of them. Regardless, there is now a multi-million-strong group of young investors out there who will never take anything Cramer does seriously, and will be worse off for it.

There are three people who really know what's happening in the market: Cramer, Trump, and Buffet. All three called the crash in 2007, and warned everyone. Very few listened to them. Fortunately I did, and moved everything in my 401k accounts that I could into cash/Money Market/Stable Value accounts. As a result I lost almost nothing in this crash, and am now poised to jump on the recovery and likely double these accounts. Most of the Cramer haters are just bitter because half their retirement savings are gone now.

But don't take my word for it. Financial Site Mint.com has a great tool to graph your investment performance and compare it to the S&P 500. So, if you disagree with me or Cramer, I have one thing to say: I'll show you mine - will you show me yours?

From Public

WANT: Geneva 2009: Clever EDAG "Light Car Open-Source" is like safety television for tailgaters

WANT: Geneva 2009: Clever EDAG "Light Car Open-Source" is like safety television for tailgaters

There's really nothing more I can say - it speaks for itself!

Apple refreshes Mac mini lineup with GeForce 9400M graphics

Apple refreshes Mac mini lineup with GeForce 9400M graphics...and no HDMI. I really have no idea what they're thinking. I would have this as my #1 choice for a home theater PC if it had HDMI (with audio). But for the cost I could build a far superior PC. Sorry Apple, for a brief fleeting moment you had a chance to get a convert, but you blew it.

GreenWheel Turns Pedal Bike Into Electric Hog: Discovery News

GreenWheel Turns Pedal Bike Into Electric Hog: Discovery News

This is something I've both worked on designs of myself and lusted after other commercial versions of. All I can say is that the folks at MIT need to hurry up and get it production-ready!

Star Wars Lightsaber Build on this week's Systm!

If you consider yourself even a mild fan of Star Wars, then you owe it to yourself to watch this episode of Systm on Revision3. You'll learn more about how the props for the original movie were made than you ever wanted to know, and it's probably the funniest episode they've ever done on top of it. ;)



Star, Wars, starwars — Lightsaber Build: Exact Star Wars Replicas, Totally Custom, And A Duel! — Systm — Revision3

Marvell's SheevaPlug Linux PC fits in its power adapter - Engadget

Marvell's SheevaPlug Linux PC fits in its power adapter - Engadget

There are so many possible uses for this I don't know where to begin. It should at least give you a taste for the future of things to come! I really want one of these!

Rebirth after a Year-Long Hiatus

After a year of disuse, I'm coming back to this project. I lost my focus because something was missing. I didn't understand my direction. I knew what I wanted it to be, but didn't know how to put it in words.

Well, this morning I read a phenomenal blog post from Jim Louderback (CEO of Revision3) discussing how he believes Microsoft Really Murdered Vista. You should go read that before continuing - it'll open in a new window.

He gave the perfect term for what I've been all these years, and what I wanted this blog to be for: I'm a Brand Ambassador. I've also heard it called a Tech Evangelist, and I guess that fits too. I'm very passionate about the products I like, and very critical of the ones I don't. People seem to be drawn to me to ask my opinions of things, tech or otherwise. I always wanted this blog to be a home for those opinions.

So this is a rebirth, a starting over. If it goes well, maybe I'll start back on that podcast I was working on too. ;)

I also realize that I'm not going to be able to succeed on my own. If you are a Brand Ambassador in your daily life, please contact me - I'd love to have others contributing articles.

i can't emphasize enough how important it is you watch this

Atomic Testing News Story

I have always been obsessed with nuclear proliferation and testing. Trinity and Beyond is one of my top ten favorite movies. So I just had to post this article from the Orange County Register about the soldiers who were sent into battle simulations at ground zero of U.S. nuclear tests.

"About it they would later agree on something. With eyes clenched tight, kneeling at the bottom of a trench, they both saw the same thing at detonation – the bones in their arms."

Damn.

Unlawful Internet Gaming Act

I'm continually disturbed by this nanny-state that we're living in. I don't understand how the Libertarian concept of "if you're not hurting anyone it shouldn't be illegal" is so lost on this modern American populace...well, at least on Congress.

Fortunately, there are some out there who do understand and are willing to stand up for the founding principles of this country. One such person is Radley Balko, senior editor of Reason and former policy analyst of The Cato Institute.

In case you aren't familiar with it (and why would you be, since the media hasn't touched it), the Senate tacked a piece of legislation onto a port security bill at the last minute, on the last day of the session, at night, with no floor debate, called the Unlawful Internet Gaming Act, essentially banning any online gaming for money, like the online poker that is so popular right now. Mr. Balko testified in front of the House Financial Services Committee. A transcript is here. This is some of the best-worded arguments against such legislation that I've ever read, and could apply to about 70% of what Congress passes these days.

Credit for this find goes to geek, poker player, and budding Libertarian Wil Wheaton.

Montessori Education

Once again I turn to Volokh for a great article on Montessori education here by David Kopel. An excerpt:

Last Saturday, Slate's Emily Bazelon, the mother of a child in an Montessori pre-school wrote an article titled "The Cult of the Pink Tower: Montessori turns 100—what the hell is it?" She stated that "In many ways, Montessori education remains a cult: No one outside the fold (and lots of families inside it) really knows what exactly it is." So I will now reveal the secret; there's much to explain, in terms of pedagogical technique, but here's the deep philosophy of Montessori education. Montessori is not for everyone, but I believe that the world would be a much better and kinder place if every family had the opportunity to choose a Montessori school....

Not all schools who call themselves a Montessori get it right, and that style of education certainly isn't for every child. But with the right child, and a true Montessori school, amazing things can be achieved.

Opposing Viewpoints.

To show that I'm not a close-minded idiot, today I am going to post a quote from someone I highly respect, giving his opinion of a common argument against hate crimes...one which I myself have used many times.

From Eugene Volokh of The Volokh Conspiracy:

I'm skeptical of hate crimes laws for various reasons, but I don't agree with the oft-heard argument that there's something unconstitutional or inherently wrong about enhancing punishments based on motivation.

Consider this comment: "I simply can not abide these 'hate crime' laws and am amazed that they have not been struck down. A murder is a murder; these laws criminalize speech, plain and simple." A murder is a murder -- yet the law has long distinguishes between different motivations for homicide.

Killing someone because you're enraged over his having attacked your family members (or even seduced your wife, a more controversial matter) is manslaughter. Killing someone because you just don't like them is often second-degree murder. Killing someone for financial gain may be more likely to be first-degree murder. Your motivation matters; and it will often be proved using your speech. Does it follow that these doctrines unconstitutionally "criminalize speech, plain and simple," or violate the principle that "[a] murder is a murder"?

Or consider treason law. Blowing up part of a defense contractor's plant in time of war is a serious crime. But it's treason only if it's done with the purpose of helping the enemy. If you blow up part of the plant because you're on strike and you're angry at the plant's management, it's still a felony, but it's not treason. Here the matter turns not just on motivation, but politically laden motivation (are you on our side, or the Communists' / Nazis' / jihadists'?). Still, motivation quite properly matters. We don't say "arson is arson; these laws criminalize speech, plain and simple" -- we distinguish between arson caused by anger or a desire for economic retaliation (bad though it is) and arson caused by a desire to help the enemy (worse).

The same is true with antidiscrimination law generally, though it's enforced through civil litigation: Motive is what turns perfectly permissible conduct into civilly actionable conduct. If a university is sued for expelling a student because of the student's conservative political speech, and its defense is that expelled the student for other reasons, the litigation will be all about motive. Likewise if an employer is sued on the grounds that if fired an employee because the employee was Catholic, black, white, female, or whatever else. The legal system does not say "firing is firing; these laws criminalize speech, plain and simple."

Now it may well be that a crime in which the victim was picked out because of his sexual orientation isn't materially different from a similar crime committed for most other reasons. It may well be that, even if there is a material moral and practical difference, drawing the line between the different motivations may be socially corrosive in various ways. It may well be that, even if there is such a difference, determining the speaker's motivations may too often require a focus on the speaker's political views, and might thus have too much of a deterrent effect even on lawabiding people. And it may well be that the laws are sometimes abused to actually punish constitutionally protected speech (rather than just using it as evidence of intent to commit a nonspeech crime).

As I said, I generally oppose hate crime enhancements, for a mix of these reasons. But "A murder is a murder; these laws criminalize speech, plain and simple" (and variants of this) is not, I think, a sound ground for opposition.

Year Zero

I'm trying to believe...

Gay Marriage

What a topic to start on, eh? It's not a tech-related topic, but that's good - I don't want to set all of you up for that. My opinion on this topic will, however, draw on my Libertarian leanings. My biggest reason for starting with this is that my opinion is one that I rarely hear put forth. It's radical, but it just might work.

But let's start at the beginning. With any discussion of this type, the best way to start is to treat it like a mediation. What is the major sticking point for both sides? On the pro-gay marriage side of the fence, the biggest issue is that of rights and privileges. This is definitely a valid issue. There are many gay couples who cannot get insurance for their partner, whose partner cannot adopt the child they raise together, not to mention if they break up. Visitation is nearly impossible (except in Minnesota).

However, the anti-gay marriage side's primary argument is just as valid. This side is worried about the erosion of the meaning and concept of marriage. Marriage originated in, and it could be argued belongs to, religion. The very concept of gay marriage flies in the face of the religious underpinnings of the institution.

So how do we solve this seemingly uncrossable breach? How do we get COMPLETELY equal rights for gay couples without eroding the religious definitions of marriage? Some states have come close. The answer lies in civil unions. However, not one state has gotten it right. The answer lies in one of the founding principles of this country: The Separation of Church and State. The solution is to take marriage ENTIRELY out of the hands of the State. Marriage is a religious institution and the State has no place in it. The solution is to issue civil unions, and ONLY civil unions, to everyone. A crucial part of this is to retroactively convert all existing marriages to civil unions.

Warning: Here comes a curve ball. As a Libertarian, I am a staunch supporter of states' rights, a limited Federal Government, and major restrictions on the currently out-of-control commerce clause. However, if there's ever been a case for the Federal Government to step in, this is it. There are so many interstate and Federal benefits tied to marriage: taxes and health care are but two. The Federal Government needs to define civil unions, what they mean and how you get them, and ban states from endorsing the religious institution of marriage. And if people want to be married, they can do exactly what they were originally intended to do - they go to their favorite religious body.

Welcome!

Welcome to the newly-revamped Geek-Spot.com! Before this was used to feed stories that I was interested in...but there are tons of sites for that which do a much better job. So the site has been re-purposed to be a place express my views on a wide range of topics, from the perspective of a Libertarian Techno-Geek (or LTG). Feel free to comment on this post with your opinions on the layout of the site, possible topics, etc. Thanks, and welcome!