Christmas Videos, Part 2 (of 2)
Bennett Family Christmas 2006 - Video 10
Bennett Family Christmas 2006 - Video 9
Bennett Family Christmas 2006 - Video 8
Bennett Family Christmas 2006 - Video 7
Bennett Family Christmas 2006 - Video 6
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Bennett Family Christmas 2006 - Video 10
Bennett Family Christmas 2006 - Video 9
Bennett Family Christmas 2006 - Video 8
Bennett Family Christmas 2006 - Video 7
Bennett Family Christmas 2006 - Video 6
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Christmas Videos, Part 1
Bennett Family Christmas 2006 - Video 5
Bennett Family Christmas 2006 - Video 4
Bennett Family Christmas 2006 - Video 3
Bennett Family Christmas 2006 - Video 2
Bennett Family Christmas 2006 - Video 1
Monday, December 25, 2006
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all. Unfortunately I wasn't able to make it out to Iowa to spend Christmas with my family so I spent it instead with my adopted family in South Holland. Church was wonderful and the holiday spirit is truly upon us. God Bless all!!!
Friday, December 22, 2006
Friday, December 15, 2006
Opera Mini
As most of you know, I just can't say enough good things about Opera Mini. If you've got a cell phone with the ability to run downloaded Java programs and you have a decent data plan, I implore you to obtain Opera Mini as soon as possible. It will make your phone-based internet experience so much better. Unfortunately I have recently moved over to Verizon from Cingular since my phone is now provided by my employer. I say unfortunately because I no longer have a data plan and therefore cannot use Opera Mini. But...it's free so I'm willing to sacrifice. But you shouldn't! And remember, if you like Opera Mini, why not download the desktop version too? There's a button in the sidebar.
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Facebook Problems
Once upon a time way back in early 2004 when Facebook had just come in to existence, I signed up for an account at the urging of my friends. I registered under bhinc@ou.edu. Since I had just graduated in December 2003, at the time I was really more focused on getting my life in order back home in Chicago than spending countless hours on Facebook.
Fast-foward 2 1/2 years and I am now ready to throw myself into Facebook after wading through the muck that is Myspace. Facebook is defiintely superior and the "next big thing" as they say. Unfortunately, when I'm ready to log back in to Facebook for the first time in a long time, I don't remember my password. And, to make matters worse, I no longer have access to the bhinc@ou.edu e-mail address I used when I originally signed up. I do have access to bhinc@alumni.ou.edu but that doesn't help me too much. Rather than doing the obvious and trying to get access to the original account by e-mailing technical support, I went ahead and created a new account under ben.hinc@gmail.com (my current e-mail of choice - everything else forwards there anyway). I used my alumni e-mail to join the OU network. All seemed well...until I decided to finally contact Facebook support about my original account.
In my e-mail to the support team I detailed my situation and offered two preferred outcomes: either reset my password so I can have access to the original account or merge the two so that all of my friends both old and new would be retained. Well...it seems having two accounts on Facebook is a violation of their Terms of Service so, while I got my wish of having my original account's password reset, I got the added bonus of having my new account deleted. Yes, deleted. I would've preferred a little warning so that maybe I could rescue a few notes or whatnot, but alas, it is gone. Just gone.
I have my old profile back now, so I guess I should be happy. Now I have to rebuild the damn thing....
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Docs Failure, New Pics
So...my most from Google Docs was only partially successful. The Docs "Publish" page said that if I had a title for my document it would automatically become the title of my post if that feature was supported by my blogging tool. Considering that Docs and Blogger are both Google products naturally I assumed that they would play nice with each other. Well, everything was right except for the title. Oh well, I guess I will be using the Blogger interface for the foreseeable future which isn't a problem.
And now for the new pics.
Ok, that's enough. If you really want to see all my pictures, please head over to my Picasa Web Album.
Post from Docs
Oh gosh, this really isn't a real post. I just wanted to test to see how a post would look if I posted from Google Docs (formerly Writely). I guess I'll get my answer.
Saturday, October 28, 2006
The GooTube Debate
I read a lot of tech news and I listen to a lot of tech podcasts. And I am sick of hearing about how much Google's own Google Video product pales in comparison to YouTube. Yes, Google bought YouTube - that's old news. Also old news is the fact that Google Video has decided - at least for now - to run Google Video and YouTube independent of each other. Many journalists, bloggers, and podcasters that I have respect for have questioned this decision based on the perceived superiority of the YouTube model of video sharing. I think they are missing one major point: whether or not it was their intent, Google's video service caters to a completely different audience than YouTube does.
I agree that as far as video sharing goes, YouTube is vastly superior to Google Video. However, this assumes that Google Video and YouTube have users who are looking for the same level of functionality which YouTube happens to implement in a better way. I submit that while YouTube does sharing well, Google Video is more of a video hosting site. Sure, it includes some basic sharing features such as tags, comments, and the ability to post videos via blog, HTML, or MySpace. However, just by looking at the current layout of a standard Google Video page, one can see that the video takes center stage rather than the sharing features which are hidden in menus along the right hand side. This layout, which the journalists, bloggers, and podcasters referenced above might consider to be anti-social, puts the focus on the video. The social functions are merely secondary to the to the primary function of Google Video: storing videos.
When I shoot a video with my digital camera and want to put it on the internet, I go first to Google Video. There are a number of reasons for this. First, Google places limited restrictions on the size and length of videos that can be uploaded while YouTube restricts videos to 10 minutes and 100 megabytes. Also, as far as I can tell, YouTube only provides a web-based upload service. Google Video, on the other hand, specifically offers a downloadable uploader for files larger than 100 megabytes that is available for Windows, Mac OSX, and Linux. Besides these limitations, I find the upload procedure on Google Video to be simpler and more user friendly. I also find the video-centered interface of Google Video to be easier to navigate and much cleaner than YouTube's cluttered pages.
YouTube will probably bring in a lot of revenue for Google and I am happy about that. But to say that YouTube is better than Google Video and let that be the end of the story is a disservice to a great product. It all boils down to this: if you want to share your videos and are looking for a social atmosphere, go ahead and upload them to YouTube. If you are looking for a place to store your digital videos no matter what the length or size is and an easy way to embed them in your blog or webpage, please upload them to Google Video.
Considering my general anti-social tilt, I will stick to Google Video.
Friday, October 27, 2006
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Zoo TV on DVD
Being the crazy U2 fan that I am, I just had to purchase the DVD of the most excellent Zoo TV concert. I watched the first disk today and I must say that the remastering is great - it both looks better and sounds better. I'm anxious to hear it in full-blown Dolby Digital or DTS 5.1 but alas I do not have a sound system capable of this (but I know someone who does). The DVD is currently available on Amazon for $15.99 for the two-disk set. I haven't had a chance to explore the second disk yet but I've heard it contains all kinds of extras. Should be cool, I'll report on them after I have had a chance to check them out.
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Roger Waters
On Friday night, September 29th, 2006, I attended a Roger Waters concert at the First Midwest Bank Amphitheater in Tinley Park, IL. It was a great show albeit a little cold and windy. Look for some video and pictures from the show to be posted here soon.
Also, I have added a new addition to the journal: the "What I'm Reading Online..." section. Recently Google updated its Google Reader software and the changes are phenomenal. The new interface is intuitive and the sharing features are top-notch. The sharing feature is indeed how I was able to add the "What I'm Reading" box. Any new item that I mark to share will show up in the box as well as on my Shared Items page. The page should archive all of my shared items while the box located on this page will only list the five most recent.
I am currently running Release Candidate 1 of Mozilla Firefox 2.0. Anyone who somewhat knows me knows that I am an Opera fanboy so it is quite a leap that I have Firefox installed. Not only do I have it installed, I am using it as my primary browser. Blasphemy, you say? Not quite. I would be using Opera but a nasty bug/incompatibility with Windows Vista RC1 causes the Aero interface to deactivate any time a page using Adobe Flash is loaded. Since Flash is so ubiquitous these days, almost any page I go to causes this to happen. Interestingly, this bug does not affect Firefox or IE7. Of the two, I prefer Firefox so that brings me to today. I have to say that many of the new features are welcome additions, especially the inline spellchecker which is very helpful when typing blog posts. I do question the wisdom of making something like inline spell check a "standard" feature and relegating something as important (at least to me) as mouse gestures to "add-on" status. Mouse gestures are one of my favorite things in Opera and while it's nice that I can add them to Firefox, I don't see why it cannot be included by default - how many lines of code could it be? One other feature I miss is Opera's spatial navigation. This is where you can hold down the Shift key and use the arrow keys to navigate the links on the page. I am usually anti-mouse so any feature that keeps my fingers on the keyboard is a welcome addition. One final annoyance is the fact that Firefox 2.0 RC1 does not support Microsoft's new default program model used in Vista whereas Opera added this to the 9.02 release. Seems funny that Opera is quirkier in Vista than Firefox is yet I can make Opera the default browser in the OS but Windows gives me no option to do so with Firefox. I have filed a bug report with Opera so hopefully they will get all of the Vista-related issues solved and I will be able to go back to my favorite browser.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Some Jet Video
No, not jet planes. Jet the band. Enjoy!!!
Recorded at The Vic in Chicago on 9/25/06 by Timothy Wachowiak.
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Monday, September 25, 2006
Bush Does U2
This thing is apparently all over the internets (2,172,147 views on Google Video) so I just had to post it here. Enjoy!
Thursday, September 21, 2006
John Deere & Guns
Went on a day trip today with the Prime Club group from work. It was a long day and I took a lot of pictures. Enjoy!
Sunday, September 10, 2006
The Month of Vista
First it was Beta 2, then Pre-RC1, then RC1. I must say there has been a dramatic progression in build quality and stability. The only problem I am having with RC1 that I didn't have with Beta 2 is getting the ATI Catalyst beta drivers to install so my x300 would work properly. However, even without the drivers I haven't run into any problems running day-to-day apps. Granted, I haven't tried any games so I will have to fire up SimCity 4 or GTA: San Andreas and find out.
Overall I am quite impressed with the added features in Vista. One of my favorite and most oft-used features is the new "instant search" that is located right in the Start Menu. Just hit Start and start typing - it will instantly search your personal folder and all installed applications. So, if you want to start up MS Word, typing "word" and hitting enter will do the trick. Very quick and very nice. Another useful (and good looking) feature is the new Sidebar which takes full advantage of the new Aero graphical interface. It's not quite as useful as other widget programs out there - the ones I have personally played with are Google Desktop 3 and the program formerly known as Konfabulator (a much better name than Yahoo! Widgets) - but as I said it is pretty to look at and is able to give me up-to-the-minute weather and stock quotes. Another cool feature is Aero itself and all the visual neatness it provides, like the new Win+Tab shortcut. It is used to cycle through items in the taskbar but now it actually graphically reduces all open windows into a 3-D looking stack which can be cycled through by repeatedly pressing the Tab key while holding down the Windows key. When the desired window is selected, releasing the keys causes the window to slide forward to fill the whole screen. All this is flawlessly executed even with my weak x300 graphics card - very impressive.
Most of the apps that I was having problems with on the Beta 2 release of Vista are working now. The few notable exceptions are CD and DVD authoring programs such as Nero Burning ROM, but I have found several alternatives, the best being the free ImgBurn 2.0.0.0 (search FileForum or FileHippo for this program). Video playback programs (basically everything except for Windows Media Player 11) have to shut down the Aero enhancements to properly play video files. My understanding is that this has something to do with DirectX since when VLC is set to another mode (such as Windows GDI), this switch is not necessary. This being said, Vista is usually very good about re-initializing Aero once the offending program is shut down. Very rarely do I need to manually restart Aero, and this usually occurs when an Opera plugin such as Quicktime causes Aero to deactivate. In this case, Aero does not come back on until Opera is completely exited, and even then it may need to be manually turned on.
Having used Vista regularly (and as my primary operating system even though I was warned against doing so by Microsoft), I am happy with the changes and I look forward to officially upgrading to the final release next year. Granted, it is still Windows and thus is by far inferior to many OSes out there. My ultimate dream would be for the nice folks at Apple to release OS X for all computers since it is already ported to the Intel platform. Since this is pretty unlikely (although possibly beneficial for Apple), my plan is to buy an Apple some time next year after Tiger is released. So, what do I get? I have been desiring a laptop ever since my sister got one and I realized how handy it could be. Assuming that the MacBook Pro line will be refreshed with Core 2 Duo processors, I think a MacBook Pro purchase sometime next spring could be highly likely. However, based on Apple's track record, who knows what products will be released between now and then? In fact, maybe something cool will be announced on September 12th at their "special event." We all know part of the announcement will be the iTunes movie store, but Apple is famous for their "one more thing" announcements. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
Saturday, August 26, 2006
One Week Down
I have made it through my first week at my new bank, First Bank of Manhattan. Overall I think it went very well and was nicely capped off by a Grand Opening celebration of their new branch located at 550 W. North St. in Manhattan. It is a beautiful branch and I'm very happy that my branch is being designed and constructed by the same team.
This week will be another busy one. Although Monday is my scheduled day off (and will be until my branch is ready), I will be attending the Manahattan Chamber of Commerce's Business After Hours at our new facility. Tuesday and Wednesday I have meetings in the morning and then the rest of the week should be relatively uneventful.
Tomorrow is "Sunday Dinner at the Bennett's" and if I'm lucky maybe a little Uno Rummy Up or Kings in the Corner. Oh, and I've got some clothes to wash.... Luckily it's so much easier with what I call my "OxiBall" or more specifically OxiClean Detergent Balls with the Toss-N-Go Dispenser. Find out more about the product here. Take it from me, it works great.
Also, there are some new photos in the gallery. Click here for that and enjoy!
Monday, August 21, 2006
First Day
While my first day was met with some initial apprehension, I think that it went very well. The teller system is completely different yet I was able to process transactions on my own after only a few times watching my trainer. I also stuffed statements, weighed and metered mail, and took all of the day's mail to the post office. Had a nice lunch as well.
Tomorrow there is a meeting at 8am so I'm off to bed. More to report as the days go by....
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Home
Home now. Feels good to sit in a chair that is not a car seat. The drive was uneventful for the most part. Stopped twice. Even made it on one tank of gas and it just got to the quarter tank mark!!! How exciting is that?
Abbie is okay. She seems happy to be "home" and was eating heartily last time I looked at her.
The big day is coming - Monday. I hope to post a full report.
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Changing
Apparently I'm playing the "how many times can I change the way my new blog looks" game. I have finally settled on a template although I'm not completely thrilled with it. It's different enough to satisfy me yet I still like the original better. However I have vowed to venture into the unknown (seem to be doing that a lot lately) so it is what it is.
Went to another casino today, actually had fun. Then we went to the outlet mall in Williamsburg, IA where I picked up a few items for the kitchen. Overall a good day.
And now... some long-overdue TV commentary. What's up with Chicken George winning HOH and then nominating James and Erika? If you don't know what I'm talking about read no further - you will probably not be very interested. For the uninitiated I am referring to Big Brother All-Stars, my summer obsession (and I am not overstating that at all). I am anxious to see what transpires. My feeling is that if James does not win POV (that's Power of Veto), he will get voted out. Then what will happen.... Oh, I can't wait.
Vacation Update
My mini-vacation is halfway over and I'm already wishing it was two weeks instead of one. So far I have made two trips to Oskaloosa, one trip to Des Moines (including a side trip to Altoona), and tooled around Pella.
My first excursion was with Mom to JCPenney in Oskaloosa's wonderful Penn Central Mall. It is seriously the smallest Penney's I have ever seen - the whole store is walkable in under a minute. I got a couple pairs of shorts and picked out some new polos for my dad. Overall a good trip.
On Monday we went to the Iowa State Fair. It was fun. Highlights include the RVs, the pre-fab houses, the "sky tram," and the food. I took a lot of pictures but due to not having access to my computer, I have been unable to get them online. I will work on that. After the fair we went to the Prairie Meadows Racetrack & Casino. We stayed there for seven hours. No, that is not a typo. Seven hours. I was bored out of my mind. I can handle slots for an hour, maybe two - three at the very most. But seven. That's a bit excessive.
For the last two days I have basically been sitting at home by myself since everyone else is either working or at school (or both). I haven't gotten much accomplished although I have managed to work out my parent's DVR/DVD Recorder issues. In fact, I am so impressed with their DVR that I am considering ordering one from Comcast when I get back home.
Tomorrow (or is it today?) the plan is to go to the Amana Colonies to walk around and maybe do a little shopping. We are also going to a Casino. Yes. Another casino. Hopefully it won't be seven hours this time. Seven.
Friday Mom and I will be going to the nice new Jordan Creek mall. Hopefully I will find some good "deals."
Link to Old Blog
I realized in my last post that I did not post a link to the original "ben's journal." It was (is) located at http://bhinc.home.comcast.net/.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
First Post - New Blog
This is my first post to my new Google Accounts-enabled blog. The following is just some testing...
- Bold
- Italic
- Color
- Hyperlink
Thanks for following me...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
