The joy of the extended desktop…

April 27th, 2010

It’s only a matter of time before just about everyone at work will have more than one monitor on their desk.  (I’ve got 5.)

It’s unbelievably handy — you can use one monitor for a document you are working on, and another monitor for looking at other documents or doing research on the internet.  You can even open the same document on both computers — this saves a bunch of time and aggravation, for example, if you’re revising a document and need to look at page 22 while editing page 50.

Years ago, I had two PCs on my desk, and I used a KVM switch so that I could use the same keyboard and mouse for both computers.

However, there is a far more elegant solution — the extended desktop.  In effect, the desktop of the primary computer is stretched across one or more secondary computers.  You can move your mouse cursor seamlessly between the monitors, and you can also drag individual windows from one monitor to another.  The keyboard is operative in whatever window is the “active” one, regardless of which monitor it is located on.

The easiest way to create an extended desktop is to connect a monitor to your laptop. (Just about every laptop or notebook has an external monitor jack.)  Assuming you’re using Windows, you can go to “display properties” and select “extended desktop.” Your desktop now extends across both the notebook’s built-in monitor and the external monitor. If you like, you can also hook up an external mouse and keyboard to your notebook — that way, you can position the two screens any way you want.

Another way to create an extended desktop is if your graphics card has a second monitor jack.  (Not all graphics cards have a second monitor jack, but it’s worth a look.)

A third way to create an extended desktop is to place a second PC and monitor on your desk, network the second PC with the first PC, and then install Maxivista multi-monitor software.  The basic version costs $39.95, and is worth every penny.  (If nothing else, it will keep your old PC out of the landfill.)  In addition to an extended desktop mode, Maxivista also has a “remote control” mode that allows you to control the second PC with a keyboard and mouse connected to the first PC.

I’m a PC guy, so I can’t speak for Apple computers — the extended desktop is so awesome, though, I can’t imagine that there isn’t some way to use a Mac to drive multiple displays.

Good luck!

Why did my TiVo stop working?

April 26th, 2010

TiVo rules! (Except when it sucks...)

I have a love/hate relationship with my TiVo.

99% of the relationship is love — really, it’s a terrific device that has completely changed the way I watch television.

But 1% of the relationship is deep, searing hatred.

You can sail along for a few months — maybe even a full year — without incident, and you’re Master of the TiVo Universe.  Then, one day, you try to transfer a show to your PC, and you find that your computer is no longer able to find shows on your TiVo.

As you grind your teeth into non-existence, you shake your head in disbelief.  It was working perfectly yesterday!  What the f**k happened?

The answer usually boils down to software and firmware updates.  Late at night, while you’re asleep (or while I’m working), your TiVo is dialing into the Mother Ship for the latest TV schedules.  Every once in a while, it also gets an updated set of instructions.  While all of this is going on, your cable box may also be getting its own set of updated instructions.  And in the meantime, you may also be updating TiVo DesktopPlus (or Sonic MyDVD, or whatever) on your PC.

Hilarity often ensues.

The problem is that TiVo isn’t in bed with Verizon FiOS (or whoever your local provider may be).  Thus, when your local provider makes some change in your cable box, it takes time for TiVo to catch up.  Sometimes a lot of time.  Sometimes, TiVo never catches up (at least, not without intervention on your part).

The other night, I spent a good 3 hours trying to get my TiVo DesktopPlus 2.8 software to work again.  If the internet is to be believed, there are thousands of frustrated subscribers out there having similar issues.

One fix that has apparently worked for a lot of people is to unplug the  TiVo box for a couple of minutes. (Note — this is not the same thing as using the TiVo reset option on the onscreen menu.)  For those lucky folks, when the box is plugged back in, it magically starts working again.

That didn’t happen for me.

After trying a half-dozen other fixes, this is what finally did the trick:

(BTW, I’m running DesktopPlus on an old Dell Dimension, Windows XP Home Edition, SP3.)

  1. Completely uninstall everything on your PC having anything to do with TiVo, Sonic, and Roxio.
  2. Use the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility to remove any dregs that you can’t remove otherwise.
  3. Use the fabulous freeware CCleaner to scrub your registry of anything relating to TiVo, Sonic, and Roxio.  (Of course, make a backup copy of your registry before making any changes to it.)
  4. Reboot.  (It may not always be necessary, but IMHO it’s never wrong to reboot any time you remove software.  In fact, you might want to reboot between steps 1 and 2, and between steps 2 and 3.)
  5. Now, get the latest version of DesktopPlus from the TiVo website.
  6. Install the software, and cross your fingers.

DesktopPlus now works perfectly.  I haven’t summoned up the courage to reinstall Sonic, but I’m cautiously optimistic…

Asia’s Answer to Susan Boyle

April 7th, 2010

I can’t say I’m a big fan of the haircut, but Taiwanese wunderkind Lin Yu Chun can really sing:

I have a feeling that Yu Chun’s parents might have mixed feelings about their son’s success — singing is fun and all, but God forbid he should consider a career in show business.

The Perfect DDR Shoe…

March 31st, 2010

All right, I’m exaggerating — the perfect DDR shoe would be a shoe that made my feet move 20% faster, while at the same time making me look 5 inches taller, 10 pounds lighter, and 25 years younger.

But I digress.

I’m not saying that you’re going to be doing your social life any favors, but if you want to significantly improve your Dance Dance Revolution experience, you might want to check out the Vibram Five Fingers shoe:

It’s a little disconcerting at first to be able to feel the dancepad with the bottoms of your feet and your toes, but once you get used to the shoes, they rock!

Of course, I’m talking about using the shoes for the arcade, or an arcade-type dancepad, such as the Cobalt Flux or the RedOctane Afterburner.  For soft pads, you should stick to bare feet.

VFF shoes aren’t cheap (around $80 online for the Classic), but I’m not complaining.  If the internet is to be believed, the shoes are also good for running — but start out slow, and build up to longer distances and higher speeds gradually

Best answer ever!

March 29th, 2010

One of my mom’s friends is a Korean woman in her 70s who lives in Europe.

On a visit to Korea, she was inevitably asked about her children.

“Well,” she answered, trying to sound modest, “my son is a lawyer, and my daughter is a pediatrician.”

In relating this encounter to my mom, the Korean woman says:

“They like to hear that, right?”

It turns out she made the whole thing up (including grandchildren).

I guess you had to be there…

March 28th, 2010

Contrary to popular opinion, Republicans do not hold the monopoly on racially insensitive attempts at humor. New Hampshire State Representative Nick Levasseur, a Democrat, uncorked this beaut on Facebook:

“Anime is a prime example of why two nukes just wasn’t enough.”

Apparently, Representative Levasseur thinks that the US should have kept dropping nuclear weapons on Japan until the world was 100% safe from Sailor Moon.

To his credit, the Representative’s apology did not include the obligatory: “I’m sorry if anyone was offended.”

Oh, those wacky Koreans!

March 7th, 2010

Am I the only one who thinks this might be a hoax?

Various sources report that a South Korean couple became so addicted to an online video game that they allowed their 3-month-old infant to starve to death, while nurturing their “virtual” child in a video gaming parlor.

Link to Article

Here’s why I’m not 100% convinced that this is a real story:

  1. Not one single news source that I could find has named either the father or mother.
  2. The story is just a little too cute — a little too perfect.
  3. The story reinforces stereotypes about Koreans being technology-obsessed lunatics without a life.  (I know, I know — people in glass houses…)
  4. If there’s one thing that Koreans are more obsessed about than video games, it’s their children.

Time will tell, I guess.

Thought for the Day

February 22nd, 2010

I used to think that white parents want their kids to be happy, and Korean parents want their kids to be doctors.

Now that I’m older, I realize that Korean parents also want their kids to be happy.

It’s just that Korean parents can’t conceive of how their kids can be happy if they’re not doctors.

Oh, those wacky Koreans!

January 17th, 2010

Mr. Kotter he’s not.

South Korean math teacher Woo Hyung-chul’s teaching methods include cursing at his students and hitting them with a shovel.

But because it’s South Korea, his students love him.  According to the Korea Times:

Students who gave up on math call him a “messiah” for redeeming them from the deep, dark valley of hopelessness and a state of utter lack of motivation.

How do you say “Stockholm syndrome” in Korean?

Link to Article

Why did it have to be a geeky Asian guy from New Jersey?

January 9th, 2010

Mystery solved.

That guy who ducked under the security rope at Newark Airport a few days ago, triggering a six-hour panic turns out to be an Asian guy (presumably geeky) from Piscataway, NJ. If you’re curious, you can find his name on Google.

It boggles my mind to think that they were able to pick this one guy out of the thousands of Asian guys who live in and around Piscataway.

I can’t say that I’m too surprised at the ethnicity of the mystery man. When I heard about some guy who, out of an apparent mix of impulsivity and a disdain for authority, embarked on a breathtakingly stupid course of action so that he could spend a few minutes with a woman, well, let’s just say that I’ve been there.

Here’s some video, in case you missed the original story: