Cartoon by Pugh.

Attempting a full system restore now...hope it works otherwise back to Sony it goes!

Here are the contact details for Sony Customer Care:

Telephone: 08705 99 88 77
Email: help@uk.playstation.com

Other details and FAQs can be found here: http://uk.playstation.com/help-support/ps3/?locale=en_GB

*UPDATE: Full restore did not work :( Sony are replacing the unit on Tuesday. Good times

The kinetic sculpture race is a highlight for a lot of folks.  Bottom line: teams design a human powered machine that can race down the road, tackle a sand pile, slosh through knee deep mud, and float down a river.  But note - just adding floats to your mountain bike isn't going to win it for you - teams will need art and a lot of fun (think songs, trading cards, etc.).  For years, the Calastoga folks (yep, the folks who bring you bottled water) have brought the coolest racing sculptures you can imagine - and this year was no disappointment.  Their fire-breathing, rolling dragon was a work of art. 

The disc dogs are always fun to watch.  I've been shooting this event for three years now - and, I have to say, I cheat just a bit when I'm out there.  In all honesty, it's much easier to take pictures of really fast small jumping dogs when they're running straight at you, rather than panning them from the side.   With a head-on shot - even if the dog veers to the side - I've found it easier to create reasonable images.

The Electrathon is pretty cool.  It's a timed, hobby electric car race around a closed track.  Friday night, I couldn't find a parking spot close to the grounds (it's essentially neighborhood parking) - and was forced to park a few blocks further than I was hoping.  Well, it happened that while I was walking towards the main stage, I stumbled onto a corner of the electrathon course.  At that corner, I was watching cars drive straight towards me with the sun at my back - ideal photo conditions.  Pulled out my camera - grabbed a few shots - and continued on to the shoot with Laura - and eventually, later in the night, Beau Soleil avec Michael Doucet.

The discs though are still very important for two reasons: they give height to the spine and help elongate it; they allow for shock absorption.

If either of these two functions decline, then the facet joints and intrinsic muscles will start to fail also. This leads into back pain very quickly. Sure there are also many other factors that create back pain and to remove your back pain totally, you need to address all the factors relating to it. This is why the X-Pain Method V2.0 is so incredible – it covers everything you need to know and do to completely and totally cure your back pain.

Back to the discs though…

Your spinal discs are made up of a jelly like substance. When you stand or sit the pressure of gravity actually allows your discs to leak a small amount of fluid. Your discs then decrease in height and lose their functional ability to shock absorb and to maintain your height.

This is why if you measure your height in the morning when you wake up; you are taller than when you go to bed. As you age your height shrinks, which you may notice in your parents and grandparents.

If your disc remained at their full height and fluid levels, then your shock absorption would remain and your height also. To do this you need to make sure three things are occurring every day…

1. You need to drink approximately 2 liters of water every day. If your fluid levels decline, so will the fluid levels in your discs. Water will help your muscles function, organs to work better, your nervous system to fire properly and a lot more.
2. You need to be eating ½ teaspoon of salt (actually ¼ teaspoon for every liter of water you drink). Salt helps your discs rehydrate, salt also allows your Adrenal glands to function correctly. Your Adrenals help produce the anti-inflammatory products, help to distress your body and mind, re-energize you and more.
3. Lie down more… yes lying down actually allows your discs to remain at their true height for longer. IT is gravity that is the biggest cause of disc shrinkage – if you lie down when you read, listen to music or watch TV, and then your discs have time to rehydrate by removing pressure off them.

Three simple things you can do that will improve the status of your spinal discs. Three simple things you can do that will help remove and prevent back pain. Just some of the simple tips that the X-Pain Method V2.0 offers, along with techniques to re-align your spine, rebalance your pelvis, stretch and strengthen muscles.

All the techniques taught in the X-Pain Method V2.0 take only minutes to do each day, time well spent to help remove and prevent your back pain.

"Recovers files from disks with physical damage. Allows you to copy files from disks with problems such as bad sectors, scratches or that just give errors when reading data. The program will attempt to recover every readable piece of a file and put the pieces together. Using this method most types of files can be made useable even if some parts were not recoverable in the end."

Windows Vista, Windows NT, 9x/Me, Windows 2000. Freeware.

There are a number of routes of brake upgrading options available to you:

Rover SD1: The above photo shows this option. Genuine TR8 calipers are rare, but Rover SD1 calipers can be had. Original TR8 discs are readily available. You may have to add washers under the caliper housing bolts and trim a small amount of material off the backing plates. The outer pad is a very tight fit initially but otherwise the SD1 calipers appear to work fine, and unlike the TR8 calipers the steel wheels do not seem to foul on the calipers.

Volvo derived: This four piston, vented disc kit offers greater braking capacity but can be somewhat pricey. It is said that the 13" steel wheels can be reused thus the cost is considerably offset by not having to purchase new wheels and tyres.

Rover Vitesse derived: These kits also offers four piston, vented discs but requires a minimum of 14" diameter wheels/tyres.

Melitta One – Melitta One has come out with “Universal Pods” which will fit all single serve machines, with the exception of their tea pods.  And those will only fit in the Melitta One:One

Bunn, Senseo, Black and Decker, Simple Human, Grindmaster- All pods will fit in these machines.

A list of all pods and diameters are as follows:  www.coffeeforless.com carries all of these pods, and they can be found by clicking on the “Pods” tab on the top of our page.

 Wolfgang Puck: 8 grams
Green Mountain: 10-10.3 grams
Senseo:  7 grams
Folgers: 9 grams

Millstone: 9 grams
Emeril's:  9 grams
Melitta Universal: 9 grams - Kosher
Timothy's:  10 grams - Kosher

 We also have a variety of the Keurig Machines, as well as the NEW Lavazza Blue Single cup machines.  Each of these machines has specially designed “cups” that fit into their machines. The list of K-Cups fit in the following Keurig Machines:  B40, B50, B60, B70, B100, and B200.  All of which can be purchased at www.coffeeforless.com or special ordered for you.  (To locate all of our K-Cups and Keurig Machine, just click on the “K-Cups” tab on the top of the page) K-Cups:  (All K-cups are sold in boxes of 24, 25, 96, or 100 counts only): Green Mountain - KosherGloria Jeans - KosherTimothy’s - KosherEmeril’s/Timothy’sCaribouCoffee People - KosherTully’s - KosherDiedrich - KosherTimothy’s TeaGloria Jean’s TeaCelestial Seasonings TeaGreen Mountain Hot ChocolateGhirardelli Hot Chocolate – Packets specifically designed for Keurig Machines   

www.coffeeforless.com is also proud to announce our newest single serve coffee/espresso machine.  The Lavazza Blue, LB 1010 and LB2010.  Again this machine has it’s own cups designed to fit their machine, but they have a large variety of hot beverages you can use is this machine, ranging from espresso, coffee, consume, hot chocolate, tea, decaf varieties, to even warm milk.  (The Lavazza Blue and cups can be located by clicking on the “Espresso Machines” tab on the top of the page)

I ordered several United States Disc Golf Championship (USDGC) Rocs from eBay and ZoneDriven.com. When these discs are released they are bought up in a manner of minutes because of their rarity. These are some of the most sought after discs in disc golf. It has to do with the fact they are only sold once in the year as a fundraiser for the USDGC. The plastic is a special blend you can only get at this event.

I've decided to start up a blog posting about computers and today, I am discussing about why you need to reinstall (reformat) your operating system over time.  You see, when you first bought your computer system, you assured that it will be reliable most of the time. However, you may not know that if you are downloading a file, you can get viruses, spyware, adware, malware and other things that will greatly alter your computer's performance. That's why reformatting (reinstalling) your computer system has become a necessity for many tech users (including myself).
The first step before reformatting is to backup all data into a separate partition and/or an external drive. I usually combine these two to provide some added protection. Next, you have to pop in your Windows installation CD in your CD-ROM drive (providing if your modified your BIOS/CMOS to allow your CD or DVD drive to boot first). Then you have to do a completely new installation. This involves on deleting the partition on where the current operating system is being held and then start on a "fresh state".

After the reinstall process is done, the fun (but long) part is that you have to install all the updates and service packs for your operating system. Next up, you have to install all of your drivers for your system and lastly, all of your programs. You have to budget your time on restoring all of your stuff. It would take at least 1 to 3 days to restore your system from scratch and restoring your data from your external drive to your desktop hard drive!

If you computer is severely damaged, then a Preinstalled Environment disc is also ideal. This gives you some time to salvage some data before the formatting process begins. For an extended set of tools that you can use for your computer system, Hiren's Boot CD or Ultimate Boot CD are great boot CDs, so you can do more with your system such as reformatting hard drives, check drives for errors, create/delete partitions and many others. I couldn't find a download link for Hiren's Boot CD, so I'm going to leave it to you guys to do all the searching. The latest version at this blog posting is 9.5.

Anyways, I leave you a few videos on how to reinstall XP (and Vista). If you don't believe in Micro$oft, then choose Linux or better yet, Get a Mac!!!

Videos on how to reinstall Windows XP:

Windows Vista:

Sites to check out:

BootDisk.com

WindowsReinstall.com

BootDisk.info

Bart's Preinstalled Environment

Ultimate Boot CD

Hiren's Boot CD

Ultimate Boot CD 4 Windows

http://web.mit.edu/ist/products/winxp/advanced/reinstall-format.html

http://www.raymond.cc/blog/archives/2007/11/28/how-to-reinstall-or-repair-windows-xp/

Discs - Taken 28th May 2008

Well, this is my new blog! If anyone's interested in any old ramblings of mine, go to http://vicki-brammall.livejournal.com , it's all there.

I <3 Macro! I only actually realised that I had a macro setting on my camera yesterday, and it's awesome! Tasha and Megan kept telling me not to be sad and to stop taking pictures of the cups, but the pictures look so good, they actually look like professional photographs! The picture above is one I just took of the copy of Notre Dame de Paris for George, since I'm seeing him Friday night and Saturday (YFriday concert @ Kings Centre + general uptown wanderings/other stuff...).

Les temps des catedrales is in my head now, Bruno Petellier has such a good voice, especially in, well, all of the songs!

I need to get a life.

Vicki x

There are many intangibles related to how people "buy" you. Some would call it shallow, but with two otherwise equally qualified candidates side-by-side, one dressed in a well-fitted suit and the other in casual clothes, the odds are in favor that the professionally dressed person will be better received than the casually dressed one, based on nothing more than perceptions and impressions. Although many decision makers may feel that they typically remain impartial to "superficiality", they will concede that they are impressed with employees who predictably (consistently and reliably) add finishing touches to fine tune presentations. Those employees are often the "go to" people in the company. They are also the ones who dress one notch above their peers, use a color copier rather than a black and white one, bind their reports rather than staple them, and add animations to their Microsoft PowerPoint presentations, rather than use static screens of boring text.

To tie it all together, a successful presentation with handouts provided in a multimedia format, whether CD-Rom or DVD, is a nice touch.   But it is also where most people, even the best prepared, fail to make their mark. True, including a digital copy of your report and slide show is a cut above the norm. In most cases, however, the discs end up being hand labeled with a marker or affixed with stickers, giving the feel of it being an afterthought rather than an integral component of the agenda.  In short, it misses the "Wow" factor.

Consequently, the attempt to include a "bonus" to heighten the value of your presentation ends up having the exact opposite effect, devaluing the delivery by conveying a homemade appearance rather than a polished one. It is unfortunate that most short-order office supply stores do not offer professional disc production along with their printing and binding services.  The successful person usually gets their act together in advance, so why not prepare your media in like-fashion?

The solution is simple and readily available, professionally called "short-run disc duplication". Technology has made it possible to produce small quantities of discs (and professionally label them) for delivery within a matter of a few days at economical prices. In fact, the cost of producing a CD or DVD-ROM is often less than the cost of producing a small full-color report, and it can usually be delivered in about the same amount of time.

What does this mean for your presentation? It gives you the professional edge over other presenters. It captures the "Wow" factor.  Specific comments may not be made by the decision makers on the spot, but eyebrows will raise and your "above-and-beyond" professionalism will be mentally noted by all.  You will read it in people's faces as you stand before them, making your presentation.  It's high-impact.

Your goal is not necessarily to make your competition look bad, but when you look great by adding finishing touches to your presentation that are conspicuously absent from theirs, the end result is what you want to achieve; yours shines and is remembered, while the rest are generically forgotten. The next time you need to make your mark in the boardroom in short order, consider a quick batch of short-run discs.

There are many companies that specialize in disc duplication, replication, and authoring. From a consumer standpoint, it would seem simple enough to expect your multimedia project to be defined by "copy a quantity of 100 CDs", or something as succinct. Unfortunately, with all of the options for inserts, cases, covers, media types, and labels, it can become confusing when actually placing an order. To make the process as simple as it SHOULD be, you will find answers to the most commonly asked disc- related questions at http://www.benchmarkmultimedia.com/faq.html .

Benchmark Multimedia is unique (http://www.benchmarkmultimedia.com). They focus on multimedia projects from the customer's perspective, knowing that clients want the confidence of knowing the product will be perfect, and produced using cutting edge software and equipment. Benchmark provides a turnkey solution for your multimedia needs, delivering on time and on budget. Benchmark Multimedia stakes its reputation on delivering, accordingly. (Website built and optimized by http://www.webdrafter.com).  For more information about using multimedia in online Website solutions, visit www.website411book.com.

How-To Geek Blogs says "The disk defrag utility included in XP is painfully slow and the one in Vista is atrocious.  Sure sure they will do the job, but why wait around and deal with Windows' clunky utility when you can download Auslogics Disk Defrag for free.

This is my favorite utility to do the job.  I find it works blazing fast compared to Windows' utility.  Launch the application, select your drive, and you're ready to put those files in contiguous order."

Basically, you need to be able to load the contents of your CD/DVD onto the hard drive -- which will also be likely to speed up response time -- so you can run the files as if they were on the CD/DVD drive. You need a virtual CD/DVD drive. Of course, since you already paid for the CD/DVD, it would be nice if the virtual (or clone) drive software were free. Here are some examples.

Store It All
Once you move past 250-500 discs, book/album style cases with plastic pages become a bit cumbersome.  Not only do you have to remember what is in each album (labeling helps), but your collection is stored in multiple, separate albums (which I find annoying).  This may be a good solution for many people, but when you want to store it all in one place, you need a hard-shell case.

There are a number of different media storage cases similar to the one I own and am reviewing today.  When looking to purchase a case, I first had a hard time even finding what I was looking for until I learned they are often referred to as DJ cases.  I've seen prices range from $35 up to a few hundred dollars.  I bought my generic-brand case from eBay and have been happy with its quality, construction, and features.

If you want to find a similar case on eBay, try a search with the terms "DVD case 1000" or "DVD DJ case."  Either way, you should find a number of different cases that purport to hold 300-1,000 discs.  However, beware that many cases only comfortably hold about 90% of the advertised number.  Therefore, if you need to store a full 1,000 discs, the 1,000 case will probably not hold them all.  The case stores about 900-950 discs comfortably, but it does include 500 numbered, double-sided sleeves that hold a full 1,000 discs.

Convenience and Build Quality
Having nearly every disc-style media that I own all in one place is extremely convenient.  If I want a movie, I just flip to the right number.  If I need a computer data disc, I, once again, just flip to the right number.  You get the idea.  Everything is together, compact, and organized.  However, I would definitely recommend creating a good list or database to track all of the discs and numbers.  If you don't keep the discs organized in some fashion, you'll never be able to find what you want when browsing through hundreds of discs.  Also remember that you'll probably need to store paper inserts elsewhere since there is no spot for them inside the case.

Build quality on my generic case is actually on par with what I would expect from a name brand company.  The case structure is aluminum with black plastic inserts on the outside faces.  The inside features rubberized surfaces and aluminum slots to hold the media sleeves.  On the outside, there are handles on both sides to aid in carrying.  There are also two latch-style locks to hold the case closed.  A key is included, but I don't see that locking the case with a key is going to add much security to it.

Important Note: I want to warn anyone who cannot lift heavy objects that this case is heavy when completely filled with 900+ discs.  I don't usually have a problem lifting most objects, but this one did strain me a little when I recently moved it.  Get someone to help you move this case if it is mostly or completely full.  However, the case itself is fairly lightweight when empty.

Conclusion
Overall, the features and durability of this case are adequate for my needs because I'm storing the case at home where it is rarely moved.  If you are a DJ or will be traveling with the case and subjecting it to a lot of bumps and scrapes, you might want to go with a case that employs full-metal construction instead of exterior plastic panels.  In the end, this case is a great space saver and organizer for anyone with a large media collection.  I would definitely recommend it, or one similar to it, to anyone who needs its features.

If you guys have an HD-DVD (high definition DVD) player at the moment and shocked to see that this format has been mothballed by Blu-Ray (an announcement was made on February 19th, 2008), this blog will give you some of the straight facts.

Two years ago, there was a format war between HD-DVD and another format called Blu-Ray. Toshiba was one of the frontrunners of HD-DVD, while Sony, Hitachi, Mitsubishi, LG and Sharp were among the few for Blu-Ray. The war reminds me when VHS and Beta(Max) were battling head-to-head for format wars, but in the end VHS became the standard choice for videotapes. In the past, we see DVD players range from upwards of $300CDN. Today, you can get one for as little as $60.

There are also DVD recorders which functions like an old fashion VCR but with greater quality as compared to regular VHS tapes. Nowadays, you can find those electronics at your local electronics store. Having an Plasma or LCD flat panel HDTV will benefit from the great performance. There was one commercial from a local cable company when one guy told the other one that there is 52 inches of glorious HD on his HDTV set. However, the other guy complained that this is not truly HD. The first guy told him it's squashed (or something like that). I've posted a video for all of you to see what i'm talking about.

Anyways, back to the death of HD-DVD, many consumers will wonder what will happen next. Retailers decided to withdraw their HD-DVD players off the shelves in favour of Blu-ray. As for gaming consoles that have Blu-Ray, the Sony Playstation3 has support to playback Blu Ray discs.

Microsoft's XBox 360 had an add-on for HD-DVD, but an official statement reveals that Microsoft will stop selling the add-ons for the Xbox 360 system. It's anyone's guess when will Microsoft will get an add-on for Blu-Ray.

Here's some fallout from the change (source www.citynews.ca):

Blu-ray vs. HD DVD

Who backs Blu-Ray?

Sony, Hitachi, Mitsubishi, LG, Sharp, Panasonic, Samsung, Philips, Thomson/RCA

Who backed HD DVD?

Toshiba, NEC, Sanyo

Which movie companies used Blu-ray?

Sony Pictures, Disney, Fox, Lions Gate

Which movie companies used HD DVD?

Paramount, NBC-Universal, Warner, Dreamworks SKG

(Some produced films in both formats)

When did they first appear?

HD DVD: April 2006

Blu-ray: June 2006

Capacity:

Blu-Ray: 23-27 Gigabytes, 50gb dual layer disc

HD DVD: 15-20 Gigabytes, 30gb dual layer disc

Normal DVD: 4.7 Gigabytes

What's the difference?

HD DVD: It's a cheaper machine and adheres more closely to current non-high definition DVDs. That means it costs less to make and sell. Partnered with Xbox but only as an add-on.

Blu-Ray: Boasts a larger capacity so it can hold more - including those much valued extras that movie lovers have come to expect from DVDs. Tests show at least three hours of high definition video can be put on a single disc. In all, it gets about 25 per cent more than HD DVD on a 25 gigabyte single-layer recordable disc. Built in to many Sony PlayStations.

To finish this blog off, i'm leaving you off a song by a band called "Hedley". The song that I choose for this blog posting is "Been there done that". If you guys didn't get their new CD "Famous Last Words" (which is already released since October 2007), pick it up now. Without further ado, here's a small sample:

We'll never run back no!
I don't know what to tell ya?
If you come back now
With nothing left to sell ya
You can't obliterate this battle station
With a stunning lack of wit and imagination now

References:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lT5HGkfWlII - Rogers HDTV commercial

http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/18/toshiba-expected-to-announce-death-of-hd-dvd-tomorrow-stop-sale/

http://www.pcworld.ca/news/column/618bf5540a01040800b0019f084e2919/pg0.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_DVD

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray_Disc

http://www.pcworld.ca/news/column/57aa6ebc0a01040800b0019fc4a7f230/pg0.htm

Over time, however, more and more information found its way into the digital data stream. From the days of text documents, we have migrated into desktop publishing and digital images. And today, video is king. So really, toss any kind of capacity our way and we will somehow manage to find ways of filling it up.

But when it comes to portable data storage, it may indeed be possible to have too much data space. I'm talking about commercial media in particular. We're now awaiting the arrival of Blu-ray and HD-DVD discs, media that promise to hold up to 50 gigabytes of information. That's the capacity of about ten standard DVDs.

Right now, a standard DVD can already play back pretty good crystal-clear quality videos. But now the studios are planning to unleash the same movies that already look great on standard DVDs into the new format. To justify this move, studios are promising even richer images, tailored to take advantage of the new generation of high-definition LCD TVs.

Do you smell a conspiracy here? Could it be possible that the big entertainment giants actually planned out today's crop of HDTVs in order to justify rolling out a higher capacity data format? Hmmm....

But just how rich an image are we really looking for? Would we really care? Let's take a cue from an existing product that promises to offer higher quality audio and video: Superbit

The Superbit Collection (that's a trademark, folks.... from Sony!) is a series of DVDs that offer higher bit rates by stripping away all bonus and peripheral materials and just filling the DVD purely with the main feature, thus allowing for higher quality sound and images.

There is certainly an improvement in quality. However, do people really care? Superbit DVDs tend to be niche products with a limited clientel. The average DVD buyer is not clamoring for even greater quality. Even if he already owns an HDTV.

In fact, if anything, the market seems to be scaling down in their viewing quality... and not having any qualms about it. Witness the growing popularity of DivX movies, which offer far less quality compared to DVDs, and yet their viewers still get a certain level of contentment.

(Video pirate, in fact, are now cashing in on this indifference to video quality, offering entire seasons of TV shows that are miraculously stuffed into single DVDs by sacrificing video quality as well!)

If we use the realm of music as a frame of reference, we should be acknowledging the fact that the mass market has come to embrace MP3 music which, if you think about it, offers far, far less audio quality than CDs. And they don't care. Oh you will always have the audiophile snobs, of course, who would curse MP3s to the high heavens. Then again, these same people would just as easily curse CDs and long for the days of vinyl.

In other words, we will soon getting 50GB discs that promising a whole new level of quality that we were not even looking for in the first place.

What made the DVDs sellable versus lower-quality uct. Not only did it offer better quality, but it allowed you to skip chapters, select language, and avail of lots of extra features. All in a handy package. But blu-ray and HD-DVD? It's more evolutionary than revolutionary. In other words, there's no compelling reason for people to move up. What in the world would you stuff into all those gigabytes? Even more extra features?

The new discs may find use as backup and archival storage tools, especially for folks, who are now finding 4.7GB DVDs too tiny for their needs. But as commercial media? It's overkill. Only movie snobs would want it. And that's not a big enough market for the long haul.