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Making it a Little Easier to Trust Gmail

Over the last few weeks gmail has randomly deleted 3 weeks of emails from my system. I think gmail is a wonderful thing as it allows me to take my inbox wherever I go and feel at home and ready to work from where ever I am. Gmail is now my primary email account. It’s the place where I communicate with not only my friends and family but also where a lot of my business is done as well. This makes it especially important to keep a back up of your email. Now that all this email is stored off your computer, it is a little more complex to make a back up of the data. I have recently completed my back up & what a reliefe. There’s quite a few steps, but I found a great article detailing how to back up your gmail through Outlook.

Link: Check it out!

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Surf Page

A lot of times I release a new part of this website which is mostly just for me, but could also be handy to others. I have worked on a couple pages like this lately, one of which is my Surf Page. It’s pretty bare at the moment, and not linked from anywhere but here, but I do have plans to incorporate a lot of the board sports I do in a more prominent way. The Surf Page is pretty much just a reference page for me so that I can see the surf and check the reports in the Southeastern Massachusetts area, but if you’re a surfer from the area, or feel like following it, this page should be a good starting point. I’ll post a little information about some of the other pages I’ve made ion the near future.

Link: EricDresser.com :: Surf Page

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Google Earth

Google earth might possibly be my favorite program on the internet. For all that it does it receives not nearly enough praise. It is possible to spend an entire day jumping from place to place and exploring almost as if you are on vacation there. What a cool program. You would think that once you released Google Earth there’s not much more you could add. Sure enough there are tons and tons of add ons that are available in the newer versions of the program. You can see points of interest, snapshots taken around a particular point, and even outlines of park boundaries. There’s even ways to import files into Google earth so outside interests can you Google Earth’s interface in displaying locations (such as is the case in geocaching.)

In the most recent version of Google Earth there are two notable big additions to the program. One being Sky view, and the other the hidden flight simulator. Sky view mode is impressive and awesome, but what really stole my attention was the flight simulator. Flight simulator mode is a hidden feature so it can only be accessed by pressing Ctrl + Alt + A (Command + Option + A on the Mac.) Once you have the flight simulator open you can fly anywhere in the world. if you’ve every played a flight simulator before you’ll notice that the controls are very smiler. Check it out, it’s a ton of fun, and can also be quite challenging. If you don’t have Google Earth yet, get it! If you have it already, update! this is one of the coolest things I’ve played with yet especially in the realm of cartography.

Link: More information on the Google Earth Flight Simulator

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Is prime time a waste of time?

It’s September and It’s time again for TV season to get started. I’ve set my PVR to record Heroes, a show I really got into last season, and Journeyman, a show that looks promising. Last season I learned that television networks have little to no commitment to new shows. I started watching Drive on Fox. After a busy week I sat down to catch up on my PVR’d shows, and after only a handful of episodes Drive had been puled and I was stuck with some rerun saved in it’s place. This season I have taken that lesson to heart and will DVR at least the first 5 shows of the season before I decide to start watching any new show. Why should I waste my time in gaining interest in a story line just to see it dropped. In a world with online media, DVR, PVR, and DVD box sets, why should you waste any time watching a story line you will never see completed.

There’s many options when it comes to recording television these days beyond VHS. With the recent advancements in digital television (and no, I’m not pushing HDTV, but that’s a story for another day,) VHS should be your last choice. Whether you get your TV fix from the Network’s website, a DVD recorder (which can be loaded with DVD-RWs for reuse,) a DVR, or a PVR, there’s no reason to be a slave to the networks saying what shows to watch, and when to watch them. What a time to be alive! Now if we could just find a way to avoid radio DJs spoiling television’s surprises the next morning…
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A closer look at Joost (Joost invite offer)

At this point I have had a chance to take a closer look at Joost, the IPTV program from the makers of Skype & Kazaa. As I said in my initial review, I am very impressed. I think that once more companies buy into their technology Joost will definitely be a major contender in the industry.

The interesting thing about the timing of Joost’s release is that there is increasingly fewer and fewer networks out there who are giving us our television. The big three with Networks with easy to remember acronyms come to mind; ABC, CBS, & NBC. Joost could just be the equalizer that allows more people to get in the shrinking door. The scary thing about the direction that the television industry has been going is that there are less and less options available to the viewers. Sure, it may seem that more and more stations are being added, but in reality there is major consolidations going on at higher levels. This means that the opinions we are seeing are coming from fewer and fewer places.

Joost hits the scene bringing an eclectic collection of programming that you can only imagine will continue to grow. It uses a sleek, stylish design that I think looks really sharp. The video quality is as good or better then I was expecting, and for the most part it keeps right up with the rather monumental task of streaming high quality video. Coupled with a TV output card this is a really wild experience.!

Joost is marketing themselves using street buzz & viral marketing. Joost is available by invite only. So, who wants a Joost invite? Here’s an offer to get yours easily. I will pick three people who will get Joost judging by the comments you leave here. Explain to me why you want to try Joost, and what you think of this marketing strategy, as well as any others you might have noticed recently. Please make sure you include your email address. Good Luck!

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Online movie rental services

A few years ago I was in college. During that time I majored in Communication Studies. I didn’t have a minor, because they didn’t offer what I wanted as a minor, but rather as a focus. That focus was in “Television & Video Production.” So when someone asks me what I studied in school I have started to tell them the following; I was a Communications Studies major, with a unofficial concentration in Mass Communications & a focus in Television & Video Production. The reason I bring this up is that I studied film A LOT. I have grown accustomed to watching a lot of movies. This was always a difficult and expensive task. At almost $5.00 per DVD rental it got expensive quickly. Enter Netflix, DVD rentals just got a whole lot easier and a whole lot more affordable. I was loving it, renting movie, after movie, after movie. until I got added to “The Slow List.” I put that in quotes because I am not the first person to be put onto the slow list. This is something that Netflix does often. So what can I do, well I can quit, and I did. My next mouse click was on Blockbuster.com. I was signed up in minutes, and it’s way better then Netflix. For every DVD I take out from their online outfit, I get a coupon for an in store rental. This means that I walk into any Blockbuster store and grab a Movie (or game) and place it on the counter with my membership card. Scan, Scan, & X is due back on Y by Z’oclock. That’s it. Just return it on time. Meanwhile, the moment they scan your online DVD, the next one is scheduled for delivery. It actually gets shipped while you are watching your free DVD. I am so impressed. I know this post sounds like an ad, but it is because it is truly as good of a deal as it sounds like in the commercial. I would defiantly recommend checking it out.To see the ad click the image at the top of this post.

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Joost: A First Impression

So I received my long sought after Joost invite yesterday. I quickly dropped everything and downloaded the program. After the install was complete I ran the program. What I saw was not what I was expecting, but was really impressive. Joost is like nothing I have ever seen before. The interface at first glance appears to be very intuitive. and the video quality is as good or better then I was expecting. My computer is tied into my TV and watching video on demand on my TV is truly impressive. Of course ParPerView and OnDemand have been available for years, but getting content over the Internet is truly impressive. you get the feeling that you are more in control when this is coming from the Internet to your TV rather then a cable provider’s closed, private network. I have only taken a brief look at the program and will offer a more in depth review in the coming weeks.

For weeks I had been intending to make a post about the future of the television industry, but Joost may have just changed some of my opinions or predictions.

For those people who only surfed here because of the words Joost invite. I will be offering Joost beta test invites in the coming weeks as well, once I receive them.

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The Benifits Of The Recycle Bin

So lately I have been on a big recycling kick. I’ve seen too many documentaries, and scary statistics to ignore the fact that it’s super important, not to mention economically wise to recycle. Something that I have realized since I started recycling (paper at least) is that the recycle bin actually helps me organizationally. Yes, I do need to have an additional bin near my trash can that takes up more space, but there many are benefits as well. Think about the recycle bin on your computer. Have you ever deleted something then thought later; “Damn, why did I delete that file!” Well I find a physical recycle bin offers the same solution as the recycle bin on a computer does. Using a recycling bin not only allows you to help the environment, but also helps you in the case you discard something prematurely. I have also found that using a recycling bin has helped me to get rid of some of the things that I am not sure if I should keep or get rid of, as well as things that I have a difficult time putting in the trash (ie. greeting cards.) So there you have it, a tip that is both helpful for you and for our planet. Now just think, I am that much closer to 100% digital filing & 0 paper waste (my resolution for next New Years.)

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A glimpse into my madness

Some people say I am crazy; going skiing every weekend, working every week day. At times I wonder myself it this is true. Then I have a weekend like I had this weekend. The type I haven’t had in two years. I am covered in bumps and bruises, and I am here to tell you that I wouldn’t want it any other way. I had a wonderful weekend, and thoroughly enjoyed the 30+” of snow that Cannon received last week. The 6-8″ that fell all day on Sunday was just the icing on the cake. This is why I do this. This is why I love winter.

Click this image to view pictures from my weekend.

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First Lite Brights, then Geocaching

Alright, again, I don’t like to get political on my blog, but right on the heals of my previous post about the “Boston Aqua Teen Hunger Force Hoax Devices” I saw a news story about how Geocaching can be mistaken as a terrorist activity.I can understand why, but this is a perfect example of letting fear stifle our liberties.For those who don’t know, Geocaching is a sport where users get GPS coordinates to where a box (or cache) is hidden.Users then use a GPS receiver to find the cache, and log the find in a notebook inside, and also online at a later time.Their reward for the find is to take a small treasure from the box.

This is a sport that I took up over the summer, and it really disturbs me that I need fear legal prosecution for simply getting outside and enjoying the meshing of nature and technology.So during all the hype we are seeing from this “Boston Hoax Device” saga keep in mind the hobbies and other innocent pastimes which could become unnecessarily regulated.

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