Building the ideal FSX machine
As I will detail in other posts, I have begun the training process to obtain my Private Pilot’s License, at a flight school here in Seattle. The training process consists of ground school (classroom time), independent study (reading, watching educational videos, etc), and flight time in a Cessna 172P with my Certificated Flight Instructor. Thus far, I have been having a blast with the training process. I’ve been looking forward to my three weekly classroom sessions, and really...
Read MoreThe home made photo booth
It started as so many projects do, with a couple of friends hanging out and chatting over beers down in the basement. The difference in this situation is that the friends (Myself and my friend Brian) were both engaged to marry the women who have now become our wives, and we were both knee deep in the helping our ladies put together the plans for our respective weddings. Photo booths were once so specialized and expensive that you would only see them in high traffic public places. I personally...
Read MoreControl Airplay/Airtunes in iTunes 10.1 with Applescript
My previously published Applescript to control iTunes Airplay/Airtunes speakers was broken recently when Apple released iTunes version 10.1. Apple made a few minor tweaks to the speaker control elements, which is to be expected since one of the key features in the 10.1 release is related to Airplay support. I have re-created the script, which behaves almost identically to previous versions. This one contains a little bit more error checking for dealing with various iTunes states. I've also included more code comments than previous versions, which should help people modify it to their own needs.
Read MoreControl Airplay/Airtunes feature of iTunes 10.0 with Applescript
I've been using iTunes with several Airport express units utilizing Apple's Airplay (previously called Airtunes) scattered throughout my house as a basic but very powerful "Whole House Audio" system for several months now. In addition to my computer speakers in the home office, I have an Airport Express connected via standard audio, or optical audio cable to a stereo or dedicate speaker system in each of our primary living spaces (e.g. Kitchen, Living Room, Basement, Master Bedroom). This setup has worked very well for distributing high quality music throughout the house and can easily be controlled via the iTunes console on the computer hosting the music, or with the excellent and free Apple Remote application for iOS devices (such as my iPhone).
Read MoreMicrosoft Surface, finally something interesting from Redmond
Back in February of 2006 I wrote (well actually, I didn’t write much) about an incredible video I’d come across which demonstrates a technology which I thought represented a bright future in computer/user interaction. The inventor of the interface technology and co-founder of the company which produced the device you see in the video is a guy by the name of Jefferson Han, a research scientist at New York University. It was clear from the moment that initial demo hit the internet...
Read MoreGadgets: A Mac compatible USB Skype phone adapter
The USB Skype Phone Adapter from Von-phone is basically an RJ-11 (regular phone) adapter that plugs into the USB port of a PC or a MAC and allows you to control Skype from your home or office phone.... I can simply pickup the normal home phone, dial *, and make calls to my Skype contacts or SkypeOUT numbers.... With the recent level of international calls we've been making, this should pay for itself in about two weeks due to the money we will save by using SkypeOUT for international calls, and in some cases direct Skype to Skype calls.
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