Dan Masters Online » Technology http://www.danmasters.net Dan Masters Playground Online Mon, 02 Jan 2012 18:29:42 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= My Son’s iPad Was Delivered and I Get to Play with It http://www.danmasters.net/my-sons-ipad-was-delivered-and-i-get-to-play-with-it.htm http://www.danmasters.net/my-sons-ipad-was-delivered-and-i-get-to-play-with-it.htm#comments Tue, 10 May 2011 18:59:25 +0000 Dan http://www.danmasters.net/my-sons-ipad-was-delivered-and-i-get-to-play-with-it.htm My son’s iPad was just delivered and I am “testing it out” to make sure that it is working properly.

The reason my son has an iPad is that he is speech delayed due to autism. He was able to get the iPad for free through some program my wife found. They have developed software that helps kids like my son communicate with the touch interface.

It is so awesome to see something that was intended to play games and edit documents be used to teach someone to talk.

Thank you Apple!

]]> http://www.danmasters.net/my-sons-ipad-was-delivered-and-i-get-to-play-with-it.htm/feed 0 I’m Now Officially Addicted to How Stuff Works http://www.danmasters.net/im-now-officially-addicted-to-how-stuff-works.htm http://www.danmasters.net/im-now-officially-addicted-to-how-stuff-works.htm#comments Mon, 24 Jan 2011 22:58:35 +0000 Dan http://www.danmasters.net/im-now-officially-addicted-to-how-stuff-works.htm While searching through the most popular podcasts on iTunes the other day I stumbled upon the Stuff You Should Know podcast. Right off the bat I found a segment on Should You Eat a Gluten Free Diet. It was a good 1/2 segment on what celiac disease is, where it came from, and how to treat it. Other interesting podcasts are How Does the Mafia Work and how does immigration work.

If that wasn’t enough they actually have an iPhone app that not only has these podcasts but videos and articles as well. I have found a new, educational, time waster. The app is awesome and can be downloaded here – How Stuff Works iPhone App

]]> http://www.danmasters.net/im-now-officially-addicted-to-how-stuff-works.htm/feed 0 I Took the Acer Aspire One Back because of My MacBook http://www.danmasters.net/i-took-the-acer-aspire-one-back-because-of-my-macbook.htm http://www.danmasters.net/i-took-the-acer-aspire-one-back-because-of-my-macbook.htm#comments Fri, 01 Oct 2010 12:13:38 +0000 Dan http://www.danmasters.net/?p=882 A few days after I got the new Acer Aspire One all installed with my software I came upstairs and my MacBook’s screen was locked up. This is the first time in the history of having this computer that this has ever happened. Horrified I restarted the computer and a terrible clicking noise was came from it which could only mean one thing – a dead hard drive.

I was not too upset about this as this was not the original hard drive that came with the computer. This was an aftermarket Hitachi 200GB 7200rpm hard drive that was over 3 years old. In fact I used this hard drive in other MacBook I had for a year before I got this Macbook. The hard drive was older then the computer.

To remedy the situation I headed over to Fry’s and picked up a new Hitachi 500GB 7200RPM hard drive. 2 1/2 times the storage. Thank God I had a good Time Machine backup as I was able to get the computer back up and running in just a couple of hours.

So What Does This Have to do With the Acer Apsire One?

Well the first thing this has to do with it is that I got the Acer because my MacBook was running slow the last few weeks especially with Windows 7 in Parallels. After I put the new hard drive in it ran better then before it started to run slow. I could now run Windows 7 in Parallels without skipping a beat.

The second thing was that after loading everything on the Acer it ran slower then Windows on my MacBook so it kind of defeated the purpose. The biggest culprit for this was Dropbox which is a necessity for me. If I turned Dropbox off it ran pretty well, with it on it was a dog.

So having the Acer kind of defeated the purpose. I needed to check browser compatibility the quickest way possible and that was now with the MacBook.

The Acer was cool but it just didn’t quite fit the bill for what I needed.

Related posts to my journey of MacBooks and Acer Aspire One’s:

]]> http://www.danmasters.net/i-took-the-acer-aspire-one-back-because-of-my-macbook.htm/feed 0 I Picked Up Another Acer Aspire One Netbook http://www.danmasters.net/i-picked-up-another-acer-aspire-one-netbook.htm http://www.danmasters.net/i-picked-up-another-acer-aspire-one-netbook.htm#comments Sat, 18 Sep 2010 19:42:32 +0000 Dan http://www.danmasters.net/?p=873 acer-aspire-one-d260 Yep, after almost 2 years of getting rid of the first Acer Aspire One netbook I picked up another one a few days ago. The reason fro picking up another netbook was that I have been having issues running Windows in Parallels on my MacBook. The reason for running Windows is to check how websites look in IE 7, 8, and soon to be 9 when I am working on them.

Why I Chose Another Aspire One

I spent several hours researching netbooks to try to find the one that had the best performance verses for factor. Because netbooks are so small the size of the keyboard and mouse are pretty important and do very significantly from model to model. Also there is a divide right now between model where some run Windows XP and others run Windows 7. I had been running Windows 7 on my MacBook so I wanted a netbook with Windows 7 as well.

After all on my research I initially thought that I wanted to get the Dell Mini 10. It seemed to have the best reviews but after I got my hands on one at Best Buy I didn’t like it. The main reason was that it seemed thicker then the HP and Acer (I have never like Asus so I was not considering them) but the main reason was the mouse. It was so small that it was difficult to use. I considered the HP after using it but the screen just did not seem as sharp as the Dell.

Best Buy did not have any Acer netbooks so I made my way to Fry’s. There I got to play with the HP, Dell, and the Acer side-by-side. The Acer seemed to have the best screen, keyboard, and mouse size compared to the other two. The only thing that I did not like about the Acer was that the mouse was not smooth but had little divots in it. It was not a deal breaker but I moved on to find one at a good price.

Chose the Acer – Looking for a Deal

My price journey took me to both Target and Walmart where I ended up buying a D260 at Walmart for $270. This is the model that was just released back in June so it was the latest and greatest. The one at Target was actually $20 less but it was the model that came out in December last year and also had the mouse with the divots. Having a more comfortable mouse for $20 was worth it to me.

Making it Mine

At home I took all the bloat wear it had on it and installed programs that I would use. I tried to keet in mind the purpose of this computer. It is not a replacement for my MacBook, it is a supplement. The unfortunate truth is that this is mostly a Windows world and I need to play in it so I need a Windows computer. I don’t have to have Windows as my primary operating system but I still need it. The idea behind the Windows netbook is checking website compatibility, surfing, checking email , and the occasional blog post (like this one).

The cool thing is that I had a license for Windows 7 Professional  and was able to use it to upgrade the Acer from Windows 7 Starter. Just in trying to personalize the Acer I was hitting Starter’s limitations. The cooler thing is that I was able to use the Windows Anytime Upgrade to do the switch. It took about an hour but I didn’t have to use my DVD at all to do the upgrade. Windows was able to do it on it’s own.

I put the usual programs on it such as Microsoft Office, Picasa, and Dropbox. I didn’t put Dreamweaver or Photoshop on it because I am not sure if it could handle it and that is not what I have this for. If I ever have the need for some reason I will figure it out then.

Props to Windows 7

I feel weird saying this but I have to give props to Windows 7. I think it is everything that they wanted Vista to be. I have been using it on My MacBook for a while and the issues that I have had I blame on trying to do too much with my MacBook. Yes, Windows still installs updates all the time which takes over your computer but that is just par for the course. This little laptop runs great with it’s little processor and it measly 1GB of RAM. That is a testament in my book to the fact that Windows 7 is a great operating system.

Conclusion

I am extremely happy with my New Acer Aspire One D260. It is a great little machine at a great price. It is not a full system replacement but is a great computer having sit next to my main machine. I believe that if I keep my expectations in the right place with this computer that I will be happy with it for a long time to come.

Related posts to my journey of MacBooks and Acer Aspire One’s:

]]> http://www.danmasters.net/i-picked-up-another-acer-aspire-one-netbook.htm/feed 0 Lego Store in Austin at the Barton Creek Mall http://www.danmasters.net/lego-store-in-austin-at-the-barton-springs-mall.htm http://www.danmasters.net/lego-store-in-austin-at-the-barton-springs-mall.htm#comments Thu, 22 Jul 2010 17:06:51 +0000 Dan http://www.danmasters.net/?p=848 On Wednesday we got a flyer in the mail telling us that there was a new Lego store opening in Austin in the Barton Creek mall. Cool I thought, I wonder if anyone else knows about it so I Googled it. Sure enough they knew about it because they actually opened it last week. It was too late to jump in the car that day so we went yesterday instead.

It is a good size store that is about twice as big as the one that we had been to in Frisco, TX. It is a fraction of the size of the one that we had been to several time in Downtown Disney in California though. It was still way cool though and of course we had to buy some Legos. Here’s a video we took while there.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-mVIDRXWQM

]]> http://www.danmasters.net/lego-store-in-austin-at-the-barton-springs-mall.htm/feed 2 Butterfly at the Gas Station http://www.danmasters.net/butterfly-at-the-gas-station.htm http://www.danmasters.net/butterfly-at-the-gas-station.htm#comments Sun, 04 Jul 2010 02:00:02 +0000 Dan http://www.danmasters.net/?p=832 A little fun with the iPhone 4 at the gas station. I edited this on my iPhone as well.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECOctgAyMr8?

]]> http://www.danmasters.net/butterfly-at-the-gas-station.htm/feed 0 Bing’s Top 100 Songs by Year iPhone App http://www.danmasters.net/bings-top-100-songs-by-year-iphone-app.htm http://www.danmasters.net/bings-top-100-songs-by-year-iphone-app.htm#comments Wed, 21 Apr 2010 01:39:44 +0000 Dan http://www.danmasters.net/?p=794 I just stumbled upon a fairly new app by Microsoft under their Bing label.

What you do is select the year that you want to listen to and the app serves up the top 100 songs according to Billboard that year. It plays them in a Pandora type shuffle to where you can only skip to the next song. You can click a button and see all the songs from that year but you cannot select a specific song to play.

The other downside to the app is that it puts up an ad for the main Bing iPhone app every 3 or so songs where you have to manually click next to continue with the music. I downloaded the app that they were advertising but the ads still come up.

They are advertising that this app is going to be $1.99 but is free right now. I would hope that they would remove the ads in you actually pay for the app. I guess we will just need to see.

Currently I am groovin’ like it’s 1993. Hip Hop Hooray! Ho. Hay. Ho.

Here’s a link to the app in the iTunes App Store – Top 100s by Year by Bing

]]> http://www.danmasters.net/bings-top-100-songs-by-year-iphone-app.htm/feed 9 Texas Bluebonnets and How Twitter Helped Us Find Them http://www.danmasters.net/texas-bluebonnets-and-how-twitter-helped-us-find-them.htm http://www.danmasters.net/texas-bluebonnets-and-how-twitter-helped-us-find-them.htm#comments Tue, 24 Mar 2009 23:14:33 +0000 Dan http://www.danmasters.net/?p=334 texas-bluebonnets18This past weekend my wife and I had our monthly day off from the kids and decided to go look for Bluebonnets which are the Texas state flower. Initially we started to drive north of Austin but were not finding very many so we decided to drive out to 290 toward Houston since we had seen Bluebonnets in that area in years past.

On our way to the 290 we passed a large group of RV’s and tents setup in Cedar Park and were wondering what was going on. I had my wife do a search on Twitter for Cedar Park and someone had Twittered about attending a cook off in Cedar Park and so our question was answered. Being inspired I asked my wife to search Twitter for Bluebonnets and sure enough there were people Twittering about seeing a lot of Bluebonnets on the way from Houston to Austin. Specifically there was mention of them being in Brenham which is about half way between the two. One person who Twittered about the Bluebonnets mentioned that there were a lot behind the Walmart in Brenham at the 290 and 36.

We headed that way.

When we were a few miles away from the Walmart location we noticed another field full of Bluebonnets that a few folks had stopped at and decided to stop there as we figured it would be less crowded. Feeling grateful that someone else had shared their find decided to repay the favor and Twittered -

We found the Bluebonnets! Location – http://bit.ly/TBKrQ and pic – http://twitpic.com/2bv5v
- 3:58 PM Mar 21st from Tweetie

With Tweetie on my iPhone I was able to give GPS coordinates along with a picture of the location so that others could find it for themselves. I had never used Twitter in the capacity before and found it really help in finding out what was going on “Right Now” with my interest at hand. I will definitely be using it again in the future for similar situations.

Below are some of the pictures that we took in the cool location that we found.

texas-bluebonnets01 texas-bluebonnets02 texas-bluebonnets03 texas-bluebonnets04 texas-bluebonnets05 texas-bluebonnets06 texas-bluebonnets07 texas-bluebonnets08 texas-bluebonnets09 texas-bluebonnets10 texas-bluebonnets11 texas-bluebonnets12 texas-bluebonnets13 texas-bluebonnets14 texas-bluebonnets15 texas-bluebonnets16 texas-bluebonnets17 texas-bluebonnets18

]]> http://www.danmasters.net/texas-bluebonnets-and-how-twitter-helped-us-find-them.htm/feed 1 My First iPhone Amazon Kindle Purchase http://www.danmasters.net/my-first-iphone-amazon-kindle-purchase.htm http://www.danmasters.net/my-first-iphone-amazon-kindle-purchase.htm#comments Wed, 18 Mar 2009 23:27:11 +0000 Dan http://www.danmasters.net/my-first-iphone-amazon-kindle-purchase.htm p-480-320-b0200dfe-74af-4e45-aac9-bb6924ef1b81.jpegCool! I just made my first iPhone Amazon Kindle purchase. I was in a book store and found a book that I was about to purchase when I thought “it would be realy nice to have this on my iPhone instead of luging this hunk of paper around”. So I jumped on amzon.com/kindlestore to check it and and sure enough they had the book. The best part was that it was 50% cheaper as a ebook then a real book. I did a quick “One Click Purchase” and was told that the book would be added to my iPhone the next time that I opened the Kindle app.

After closing Safari I opened the Kindle app and it said that it was syncing and in less then 30 seconds my book appeared. I opened it and the whole thing was there. I though that it would need to download for a while but it was actually pretty quick. The whole experience was pretty cool!

This has opened up a whole new world for me as having the book “in my pocket” will give it a much better chance of getting read. Good work Amazon!

- Posted from my iPhone, please excuse any typos!

]]> http://www.danmasters.net/my-first-iphone-amazon-kindle-purchase.htm/feed 0 The Allure of a New Mac Mini http://www.danmasters.net/the-allure-of-a-new-mac-mini.htm http://www.danmasters.net/the-allure-of-a-new-mac-mini.htm#comments Fri, 06 Mar 2009 20:27:40 +0000 Dan http://www.danmasters.net/?p=318 mac-mini-09Apple updated their Mac Mini line this week after almost a year of not touching it. The upgrade was not that significant other then the fact that it is now possible to use dual monitors via the Mini DVI and Mini DisplayPort ports. This has raised an eyebrow for me because I have wanted to use two displays with my present Mac Mini for quite some time.

My current Mac Mini is setup as the kid’s computer in our upstairs family room and the kids absolutely love it. I have a 22″ monitor and a hard drive full of movies on it. Across the room I have a 42″ Phillips plasma TV that at times I will hook my MacBook up to in order to watch something that is on Hulu or that is ripped to a hard drive. My ideal setup would be to have the ability to display the Mac Mini on the 42″ so that we could watch items off of it as opposed to having to setup my MacBook to do so. It would also be beneficial to the kids to have this setup as they could watch their movies and even surf on the big screen as well.

At $600 for the base version of the new Mac Mini it is not too expensive to make this change but in the current economic client I may have to wait a while. it is nice to know that this is now a native possibility though.

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