I just spent 10 minutes trying to crop an audio clip. Every item in the edit menu goes grey when I select part of the song. How is that useful?
Category: Reviews
I was at a local coffee shop trying to diagnose their lack of internet connectivity, so I found out what IP address their modem assigned me, and browsed to the *.1 address (where the modem usually resides). After some snooping there was no WAN connection (maybe they didn’t pay their bill?)
Anyway, here’s the first thing I saw:
(You can click the graphic for a larger version). If you look closely at the URL, you’ll notice a ‘getpage’ GET paramater. You’ll notice that it contains a relative path to a document. You’ll also notice how it begins by using the parent directory operator (../). If you click around the site a little, you’ll notice the getpage paramater changing each time. This means they load pages by grabbing them from the filesystem and display them on the page, even with parent directories included. If you can’t tell by now, this is pretty bad.
Most web apps which make this mistake prepend the file to be included with a path, which means if you wanted to grab files from throughout the OS and in higher paths, you need to keep prepending the path with parent directory operators (../../../), but in this case, they are blindly grabbing files based on the GET paramater, so one can stick an absolute path operator into the URL and access any file on the OS (assuming you can guess the file paths). The ActionTec modem is running a super simple Linux based OS, and all the usual suspects are available:
Well, no surprise there, the Comcast website is still a broken piece of shit. I’m stuck making payments over the phone it would seem. I don’t know if this affects every single client who tries to retrieve their password (if so, I’m sure they would have at least tried to fix the problem), or if it only affects a subset of accounts (more than likely).
Step 1: Try to retrieve password
Step 2: Look at the broken Comcast message
Another funny thing about paying Comcast… Apparently their billing keeps screwing up and I’m forced to alternate between paying two payments at the time and skipping a payment. Which is fine by me, as long as it doesn’t fuck with my credit.
Buy this laser module from Amazon for ~$13: Mini Blue Laser 405nm 5mw 8x13mm exclusive AixiZ
This is a pretty simple modification. Pretty much all we’re doing is sticking a battery pack, switch, and laser inside of this little plastic NERF gun. There’s a few tricky things to over come though; they did a good job shoving a lot of gun components in such a small little space. Thankfully, the handle is just the right size to hold a battery pack and the tip of the gun (after some drilling) barely holds the laser. Keep reading to see pictures and explanations of what I did, and be sure to watch the video above.
Here’s the gun. Notice how badass it is compared to the orange and yellow or the blue and yellow ones.
This is the guts of the gun. It’s just like the other NERF Maverick guns you’ve torn apart, so no curve balls.
Here’s a picture of the gun after I first started drilling into it. The hole should be just big enough for the laser to fit in it (mine was a little too big). You may need to dremmel the sides of the gun around the laser so that it fits. The plastic piece on the bottom of where the laser will sit in the above picture was removed completely. I had to run the wire through the front of the gun (there was too much complex mechanics in the middle to run the wire) and it was a pretty tight fit.
Here’s another shot of the gun being torn apart. The battery pack I found was just a little too big, so the plastic piece in the lower left needed to be drilled out (if not, the trigger wouldn’t slide back far enough for the gun to fire). Luckily, it wasn’t used to hold a screw, just for structural integrity. I glued the battery pack in on the bottom and left the top so that the cover could easily be slid on and off. In this picture you can see that the wires are attached, but that was just to make sure the electronics were still working, there will need to be more wire added before it is completed.
Here’s what the laser looks like inside of the gun, notice how tight of a fit it is. Expect to spend 15 minutes smoothing everything out and another several minutes lining the laser up and gluing it in. Be careful though, it can get off-centered when the gun is closed.
Here you can see the trickiest part… I had to dremmel a path for the wires to follow (otherwise the gun wouldn’t close properly). Also, the wires for the laser had to wrap from the back of the module to the front, and get run behind the orange barrel (a super tight fit). The barrel had to be dremmel’d a little too so that the laser module could sit next to it.
Here’s the sucky part; the wires were soldered and taped at the worst locations, right in the tight joints. This causes the gun to be a little too wide at the front and it looks a little shoddy. Also, notice how the laser sits right where one of the important front screw sits. I got lucky and that part of the gun looks normal, but it does make the gun a little weaker in that area. You can see where the switch sits, I looked all over the gun for a better location but couldn’t find one. It does sit behind the important trigger area and doesn’t interfere. The outside of the gun looks goofy by the switch though, since that part of the gun extrudes for show (that extrusion had to be smoothed down with a dremmel).
All in all it’s a pretty solid mod. I first planned on using a mercury switch so that the laser would turn on when the gun was set up-right, but it wouldn’t fit in the gun. Another thing that could make this cooler is if the trigger would activate the laser when half pressed, but this was a lot easier. I’d like to pain the gun some more so it’s entirely black and white, but I don’t have the patience!
I’m often asked by people what the best wireless card for hacking is, especially if the card is something that can be used in their laptop. It used to be that you could only get an awesome card if you hunted down some expensive Orinoco PCMCIA card or bought one of the $200 PCAP cards. But, thanks to a company called Alfa, cheap cards with full “hacking” support are available.
The awesome part is you can get one from Amazon for $25: 1000mW 1W 802.11g/n High Gain USB Wireless G / N Long-Rang WiFi Network Adapter – Dongle
Specifically, the feature you are looking for with a good wireless card is one that can go into “Monitor” or “Promiscuous” mode. This is what lets the card sit back and report every packet it finds to the operating system. Most cards discard packets which are intended for other clients, unless a driver exists for it to prevent this, but that only happens if the hardware manufacturer releases their drivers open source.
Another awesome thing about this card is that it supports “Master” mode, which allows it to function as if it were a wireless Router. This happens to be the reason I bought the card, so that I can have an all in one home server / router solution.
For $25 you’d be crazy not to buy this thing! The one I got has an attractive semi-transparent base, blue LED, and some floral patterns on it. It comes with a small antenna, which gives it a farther range than an internal card and most other wireless cards. Also, the antenna port is standardized, so you could do something even cooler like plug in a cantenna for very far range. I was able to get the card working out of the box (no drivers needed) in monitor mode under both Linux and OS X, and I’m sure it will run under Windows with no issues as well.
My M-Audio Studiophile AV 40′s arrived in the mail from Woot a few days ago and I’ve been using them ever since. These things kick ass, let me tell you. For only $100 they were an amazing deal and I’m glad to finally get rid of my old amp and speakers. With an amp built right into the speakers, these are a great space saver for any music producer or audio aficionado. The Woot sale is long gone, but you can purchase these for a similar price over at Amazon: M-Audio Studiophile AV 40 Powered Speakers
The first thing I should let you know, these aren’t as good as their expensive studio monitor counterparts. But, unless you’re mixing for big bands, you will not notice the difference.
On the front of the speakers are headphones out and a line in, both 1/8″, and a volume knob. Turning the knob all the way down will not power off the speaker, to do that you’ll need to use the switch on the back of the speakers. The device has RCA inputs, and outputs to run to the second speaker on the right. There is also a bass boost switch on the back of the speakers, which seem to contrast with the purpose of the speakers.
In order to get the optimal sound out of these speakers, you’ll want them to be standing vertically, and in a triangle with the position of the two speakers and your head, with the three items being 6 feet apart. If you don’t believe me, go ahead and move these things around, you will notice the difference.
These things also come with a double male 1/8″ pin (for the line in), a wire to the second speaker (of course), and an 1/8″ pin to RCA cable. I thought this was a nice touch, a lot of hardware manufacturers refuse to ship these sort of cables, especially when not all clients would need them. Thanks M-Audio for being awesome!
I do a little bit of music production, though not as much as I used to. These will be replacing my old speakers and will primarily be used for listening to music and for video game audio. So far they do an amazing job. They can get very loud and keep from distorting.
There are a few drawbacks to these speakers, although the drawbacks only apply to someone not using these for audio mastering. The bass isn’t the best on these things (the graph depicting frequency response for these has a big drop off near the bass end). Consumer level speakers do a little bit of internal EQing to boost the bass and trebble and dropping the mid’s so that the music sounds a little better, these speakers do not do that. If you leave the speakers on all the time, they will get pretty hot in the back and suck power out of the wall. The power switch is on the back, so they can’t be hidden and forgotten somewhere on your bookshelf.
Conclusion: If you are an audio nut looking for a good deal and who doesn’t mind a little inconvenience in exchange for sound quality, grab these! If you’re a casual listener and don’t plan on doing any music production, there are better speakers out there for you.
Are you looking for the next step in hot sauces? Something that will knock your socks off yet still delivers on flavor? Something that will make you cry like a little girl but still make that mac-and-cheese a little less dry? Then Z is the sauce you’ve been looking for.
I discovered this stuff during a recent visit to a local Mexican restaurant, Tio’s in Ann Arbor. I asked for something very hot, since the traditional sauces just weren’t cutting it for me anymore. The waiter was able to locate a bottle of Z, which only cost about $13. If you don’t live in Ann Arbor, you can buy some of this online for a good price at Amazon: Z Nothing Beyond Hot Sauce
Funny story. After purchasing this bottle, I realized I had to walk around Ann Arbor for a few more hours. So, I put the bottle in my coat pocket. The bottle was still sealed from the factory with a plastic wrap around the cap and neck areas. However, this didn’t stop some of the fumes from escaping. My chest was itchy and burning for my whole journey, a true testament to the heat of this sauce.
The bottle wrapper has a disclaimer that the sauce contains 4,000,000 Scoville ingredients. After a little bit of research though, the sauce is made by taking the highly concentrated ingredient and “watering it down” with the other ingredients (a lot of fruit juice, surprisingly) and the end result is a sauce that is more like 800,000 Scoville’s hot.
My first adventure with this sauce included me adding a few drops into a bowl of Mac-and-Cheese, and mixing it in as good as I could. After a few bites, I was feeling (over) confident, and decided to add a dozen more drops. That’s the funny thing about this sauce, it doesn’t hit you in the face, it creeps up on you. After a few more bites I started tearing up and had to grab two cups of milk to finish off the bowl.
The next week, I took this into work with me. Some of my co-workers liked spicy food, and I let them try it out. One co-worker got upset with me, another silently tear’d up, and a third wisen’d up and only tried the tip of a tooth pick worth, and agree’d that it would be too hot for him as well. Some of my other friends who have consumed this have sweat profusely, had their faces turned red, and chased it with a half gallon of water.
Conclusion: This stuff kicks ass! It’s a great price to heat ratio, and I highly recommended it for any spicy aficionado’s out there.
Shalimar: Cuisine of India is the goto Indian food restaurant on Main Street in Ann Arbor. They have an upscale appearance to themselves, and feature outdoor seating. But, does the fancier presentation and pricier food equate to having more flavor?
I’ve eaten here three times now. The two previous times I had their Chicken Makhani, and this time I had their Malai Kofta (both of these dishes have irregular spelling in the menu, btw). They do the typical glass of water (no ice), like a lot of Indian restaurants, except here it is in a wine glass, fancy! They also provide a wine menu. I must admit, I did feel a little out of place in my t-shirt and shorts. There was a rich family sitting at the table next to me, the girl repeating a dozen times that she did not want food with the slightest amount of spice. Of course, the restaurant bent-over backwards to make this so. It was at this point I realized this is a fancy place for fancy people to pay fancy prices and get average quality Indian food.
My Malai Kofta was good, the sauce was great, although the veggie balls themselves were a bit dry. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were thawed out and thrown into the sauce minutes before being served. There were a few peanuts on top, but instead of being part of the dish/flavor, they were only on top for presentation purposes. The rice was good, although surprisingly greasy. It had carrot, peas, and peanut to make it fancy, but there were only a few pieces of each, sprinkled on the top, not throughout the dish. The bread was a little burnt, and tasted surprisingly like pancakes.
For the price of a meal, you aren’t getting that much food for your dollar. My Malai Kofta with a Naan (Rice is included) was $16.11. It’s not outrageous by any means, but for about $13 you get enough food for two people if you were to eat at Kitchen of India.
Conclusion: Shalimar is for someone looking to eat Indian food at a fancy restaurant on the main drag and pay a few extra bucks. But, if you’re looking for a regular lunch spot, do yourself a favor and leave the beaten trail.
Kerrytown Sweetwaters is one of several Sweetwaters in Ann Arbor. This one happens to be located in the Kerrytown area (The area with the cobblestone road’s), on the outskirts of the busy downtown Ann Arbor area. Being a little off the beaten trail doesn’t mean this place is empty though. Since it’s close to the residential areas, the place is usually pretty busy. Parking is a little hectic, you’ll need to drive around and find a spot (if you aren’t lucky enough to grab one out front). At least with this place being so close to the residential area, most of the people walk, which does help.
Whenever I come here, I always get their Caramel Ice Dragon, which is a blended ice drink with coffee and caramel. The caramel flavor is a little on the burnt side though.
There are not a lot of outlets here. The coffee shop only has two real walls (which are able to have power outlets), the other two walls are glass as the shop is sharing space with a local health food store. Most of the tables are floating in the open area with no outlets in sight. So, if you represent a roving gang of laptoppers, you will want to come early or snipe a seat when it becomes available, otherwise I hope you have a good battery! Their wireless internet isn’t as good either, cutting out and easily losing bandwidth when the locals who haven’t paid for their own internet access want to watch youtube video’s.
Conclusion: This isn’t a great place to go with a laptop. Perhaps if you’re one of those normal people who go to a coffee shop to read a newspaper or enjoy your coffee it would make a nice place, but nerds beware.
Cafe Ambrosia is my favorite coffee shop in Ann Arbor. They are conveniently located in the heart of Ann Arbor, next to a parking garage that usually has parking available (although now that it’s summer, it’s the perfect walking distance). They have a nice selection of coffee’s and food (the real food that someone made by hand, not those mass produced coffee cakes you see at St*rbucks). It’s a friendly atmosphere, the music is usually pretty funky (right now they’re playing some sort of middle eastern music), and they even have a full basement.
The basement makes this a cool place to meet with groups of people (I have held some PHP/MyQL meetup‘s here) and it is usually pretty empty, so if you’re looking for a gathering place in town it can easily hold 20 or 30 people.
There is also a great Indian food restaurant sharing a wall with this place, with the doors to either in the same doorway. Across the street is a barber shop and a little farther is campus. I’m a big fan of the all natural Odwalla juices they sell, and their Chai is pretty good too. I haven’t had their coffee products yet so I can’t give a good review of those.
One more thing, they have more power outlets and power strips than any other Ann Arbor coffee shop I’ve seen to date, and their internet is pretty decent, making this a great place to bum out with your laptop (for this reason you’ll find me here almost every Sunday).
Conclusion: Being walking distance from many great locations and having ample laptop amenities, this is a great Ann Arbor coffee shop to call home!