Author: Jared Burham

  • Google Calendar Sync: The poor man’s Exchange Server

    They say that necessity is the mother of invention… and they’re right, but in my case, Google already invented it, and I’m just taking advantage of it… don’t judge me.  I was recently setting up a Sprint i1 android phone for one of my co-workers, and besides being disappointed with the molested version of Android it was running, realized that they also don’t offer a desktop app to sync the Outlook calendar, of which said co-worker uses… a lot.

    Enter Google Calendar Sync, and sweet little app that sits on your desktop and syncs your Outlook calendar to your Google Calendar.  Since the only option the i1 had for Outlook sync was through an Exchange server, which many smaller businesses don’t have, we just setup a dedicated Google account to sit there and be our pseudo Exchange server, letting Google Calendar Sync push events back and forth between Outlook and Google Calendar, then ultimately to the phone.

    No specific issues as of yet, as I just finished setting it up this afternoon, but in my initial tests, it seemed to work well.  So if you’ve got an Android phone and use Outlook calendar, give Google Calendar Sync a try.

  • Portal 2: Release date announced

    We won’t have to wait too much longer, as Valve announced Wed morning Portal 2’s release date to be February 9th of next year.  Being a huge fan of the original, I’ll definitely be putting this one on my list.  Inherently, I’ll be opting for the PC or Mac version, as a game like Portal, in my humble opinion, is best played with a mouse.  They’re also releasing for PS3 and Xbox 360.

    There’s some awesome new elements they’re rolling out with this one, including Wheatley, a friendly British robot that will accompany you, voiced by Stephen Merchant (writer for both versions of The Office, and also starred in a few episodes of the US version).

    They’ve also added features, among others, like Repulsion and Propulsion Gel, an Excursion Funnel, the Pneumatic Diversity Vent, the Aerial Faith Plate, and a Thermal Discouragement Beam.  For trailers showcasing these features and more, check out Portal’s official teaser site here.

    For the latest news, keep an eye on gameinformer.

  • Axon Haptic Tablet Available for Pre-Order

    For those that are daring enough to jump off the deep end, you can now pre-order the rumored Axon Haptic tablet (not to be confused with Axiotron’s Modbook) for a cool $750 . The capacitive-touch Hackintosh tablet boasts compatibility with Windows 7 as well as all Darwin-based OS platforms, including Mac OS, though on Axon’s website they state that Apple’s EULA specifically prohibits installation on any non-Apple hardware, though that’s certainly not going to stop anyone… after all, they call it a Hackintosh for a reason.

    Some might believe the 1.6Ghz Atom N270 leaves a little to be desired, though it still has fairly decent hardware for a tablet. Specs include a 10.1″ LED backlit screen, 320GB HD, 2GB RAM, a removable battery, 3x USB ports, ethernet, card reader, VGA port, WiFi and for additional $70 you can add a Verizon 3G SIM card, and yet another $70 will get you Bluetooth GPS.

    It’s up in the air at this point how well full-fledged operating systems will behave with the capacitive touchscreen, though I think it’s definitely a step in the right direction to bring more devices to the market as alternatives to the iPad that allow something more than a mobile OS. If nothing else, it might cause Apple to consider the possibility of competing with them, but then again, does anything anyone does really ever affect what Apple does?

    For full tech specs and description, visit Axon Logic’s website, but see if I’m not the only one that’s bothered by the fact that they copied Apple’s top bar right off their website for their own….

  • iTunes album artwork

    iTunes album artwork

    Just a quick post to shed some light on an issue some may be having with their iTunes album artwork.  The last time I moved my entire iTunes library from one computer to another, I noticed some of my artwork didn’t show up.  On doing some research, it seems that ever since iTunes 7, it actually stores the artwork in a separate library file, and doesn’t attach it to the actual music files themselves.  While there are some programs like TuneUp that our very own Dave Sack reviewed that will go through your entire collection and change that, an easy and free way to make sure the artwork is attached to any new song you import or purchase is this:

    1 – Right-click on the track, and click Get Info

    2 – Click on the Art tab on the far right

    3 – Click on the artwork once and Control-C to copy (Command-C on Mac)

    4 – Press Delete, which will erase the artwork you see

    5 – Press Control-V (Command-V) and paste the copied art back in

    6 – Press OK

    This painfully simple process will actually attach the artwork to the file tag so the artwork will now travel with the file where ever it may go.

    Also, if you’d like to embed artwork for an entire album, just select all of the tracks, right-click and go to ‘Get Info’, then paste the artwork into the ‘Artwork’ box… your artwork will be applied to all of the tracks.

  • CNC Art

    The term CNC stands for Computer Numerically Controlled, and is used to describe machining equipment that is controlled with computers.  These machines, commonly milling machines, are used to machine parts out of most any kind of material, such as aluminum, steel, plastic, copper, stainless, etc.  This is how we end up with the parts that make up our cars, lawn mowers, hair dryers and coffee makers.

    However, these machines are also used by some to make art, such is the case of GarE Maxton of Carson City, Nevada, who designs and machines 3D puzzles.

    His latest sculpture he calls ‘The Intimidator’.  Made up of 125 pieces, all machined to fit together perfectly, the sculpture takes on the form as seen on the left.  Once apart, some of the pieces can be put together again to form a fully functional .45 Cal muzzle loading pistol, as seen below.  Take a few minutes and look through the gallery on his website, as well as the video of him dismantling, assembling the gun and firing it. His intricate sculptures are nothing short of extraordinary.