April Fools' software

Today I got an email from CNET's Download.com with some fun software for April Fools' day.

I thought I would post links to the software so you could play some pranks on your friends and family tomorrow.

• Mouse Move - Fool your friends by configuring their mouse to move in random positions.
• Copy Cursor - Replicate the Windows mouse cursor all over your friends' screens.
• Avoid - Make the Windows Start button run away and avoid your mouse clicks
• ReplaceKeys - This little prank app lets you change what different keyboard keystrokes will do to the computer.

I'm going to download these and turn them on when other family members check their email. *evil grin*

Have a fun and safe April Fools' Day!

History of Blogging

I saw this on Veronica Belmont's blog (of CNET's Buzz Out Loud) It's very true in it's hilarity, esp. since I use all of the above services.

Technorati

I joined Technorati today and this is the post I have to make to claim my blog.

Technorati Profile

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's day to all!

Me & Vox

Not that I need another blog, but today I decided to join Vox.

The main reason is so I can comment on other people's Vox blogs. Most specifically, Leo Laporte of TWiT.

Here's my vox page:

http://pcrobot.vox.com/

(I'll be adding it to my About page as well.)

I'm not going to be updating it, but, then again... who knows.

Xilisoft Video Converter 3

I have been looking for a cheap/free program that woudl convert .MOV files for a while now. My digital camera takes videos in .MOV format, which Windows Movie Maker doesn't support. I have tried several programs but most of them only convert 50% of the video file since they're trial versions.

Today I discovered Xilisoft Video Converter 3. It's a trial version but it only converts video files under 5 minues. I think I'm going to actually buy it since now I'll be able to edit my camera's video in WMM.

EC test & party

Today was the Electric Class test and party at Kevin's house. At 6:30p.m. we reviewed lat week's homework then we had an hour to work on the 53 question (not counting the 2 bonus questions) test. I think I did ok, I had to guess on the bonus questions.

After we were done we played ping pong until Papa John's pizza arrived. Before we ate, Kevin gave a little talk about how:

• he appreciated us coming and studying
• there would be no class without students
• and how we were the reason that he wanted to do the class.

Then we dug in. A bit later Kevin showed me and some others the snowboarding video he's working on. Since we got to see Kevin's video, we had to see Jon M.'s BMX video, and Matt's skate video.

Kevin and I talked about video editing, went over special effects techniques, and looked at some good video examples.

The parent's phones have arrived!

This morning my parent's phones arrived via FedEx. I was getting ready to go to the copy shop when they came, so I plugged them into the chargers and left.

When I got back the LG phone was fully charged but the Nokia gave no indication. The intructions say to charge them while they are turned off, but they are universal, so maybe the Nokia has to be turned on. Or maybe the battery or the charger is not functioning. (Oh joy.)

Right now I'm waiting (at Mom's request) for Dad to get home from work so I can initiate the activation process etc. I hope the Nokia phone is working well, but we'll see.

I'll post more pics and maybe a video or two of the phones once I get them turned on.

Replacing my Northbridge fan

I knew I needed to replace my Northbridge fan on my mobo, it was getting very loud. But today, I noticed that the fan was quiet for once... I checked, and, of course, the fan was dead.

So, once my game download completed, I shut down, unplugged and opened it up on the kitchen table. My first task was to remove the old fan. It's held on by two plastic pushpins. The only way to get it out is to break the pins off or take out the mobo (and all that goes with that long job) and pop the pins out that way. I didn't want to spend a lot of time on it so I just broke the pins with my trusty needle-nosed pliers. One of the pins is in the picture above.

After that, I popped in the new Northbridge fan and plugged in the connector. I closed it up, plugged it all back in, and booted it up. Back to my quiet PC experience at last!

New cellphone for the parents

It came time for my parents to renew their Cingular cell phone contract. They don't use half of their 850 mintes so they decided to downgrade to the 550 minute plan.

Then we had to pick out new phones. Two years ago when they signed up, they got some free phones, and the phones have served them well. Looking back, I'm actually suprised how well free phones held up, since they get a lot of abuse, however accidental. So, they decided to get free phones again.

After much deliberation, with me explaining what they features were, etc., they ordered the LG CG225 and the Nokia 6102i.

They should hopefully arrive on Monday!