How to make private Blogger posts

Idea: just type and save a draft, then don't ever post it. Seems to function equivalently to a private post to me.

YouTube Errors

If you're getting mysterious errors when trying to upload HD content to YouTube, check your file size. If it's over 1GB and you're using a mac, check out this page. They say this happens with 1-3GB of RAM, but my mac currently has 7GB, and I was still getting the errors, so take that as you will. It's kind of annoying not to have a progress bar, but hey, it works.

Winsxs folder getting huge? Running out of HD space?

UPDATE (9/11/09):
Never mind. This space re-disappeared within about a week. Bummer. On the plus side, I was able to use the Scanner app (http://tinyapps.org/file.html) to locate some old iTunes and Safari installers in various temp folders.

Original (8/25/09):
Recently, I've been running low on HD space. Using Scanner, my HD-as-a-pie-chart-viewing tool of choice, I've often noticed just how much space my winsxs folder takes up. I've Googled it a number of times only to find that it isn't the kind of place you can just go and delete things. However, I decided to try it again, and fortunately, I stumbled upon this helpful post.

Using the vsp1cln.exe utility saved me almost a GB of HD space - extremely valuable. Of course, my winsxs folder is still huge, and it's only a matter of time until I run out of HD space again, but this just might be enough to get me through until my next computer.

iPhone User Guide

If you're looking for a manual for the iPhone, one of the better resources I've found is the iPhone Users Guide. It's formatted specifically for iPhone, so if you try to view it on a computer, you will not get the same result. Punch in the URL on Safari on your iPhone, though, and you'll get a very helpful resource.

For whatever reason, I wasn't able to find this guide easily via Google...I had to go back and find it on my personal iPhone (where I have it bookmarked). I'm not exactly sure how I stumbled upon it in the first place, but I'm glad I saved the URL. The URL is:

help.apple.com/iphone

Hope you find it helpful. It's definitely a good resource to link to for anyone you know who is new to the iPhone.

iPhone jailbreaking - 3.0

Just a quick note...

hypothetically, if you're jailbreaking an iPhone 1st gen with firmware 3.0 (or 3.0.1), and you get stuck at the waiting for reboot step, unplugging then quickly plugging back in your iPhone might just solve the issue.

Hypothetically, that tip was posted as only helping PowerPC users, but hypothetically, it might also work with Intel macs as well.

Hypothetically :D.

Brain Teaser

Want to hurt your brain a bit?

OK, so how do you know when you've made a decision? When you've weighed the evidence enough to be confident proceeding? Well, you have to decide that...but how do you decide when you're ready to make a decision? I guess you have to decide... whether you've made a decision on making a decision. Etc.

So yeah. Decisions might seem a little unexplainable then.

Crazy? Idea for Sony

However commendable Sony's PS3 efforts have been, it's clear that public opinion does not regard them fondly (frankly, with the press they've gotten, I think it's a wonder that they've sold as many units as they have). The Wii is handily winning both at mindshare and marketshare.

What would it take to put Sony back at the top? I think something pretty dramatic, and here's my suggestion.

What does the Wii have going for it? It's control system. That's pretty much it. But here's the thing...it's all standardized. So what if...Sony added the ability to use Wii controllers with the PS3?

Suspend your disbelief here for a second, because I think this kind of action would really have some powerful impact.

There's plenty of people that have a Wii, and Wiimotes / nunchucks aren't exactly hard to come by. It would save Sony plenty of development effort and licensing, and it would be a huge dramatic impact. Admitting that people like this kind of control...and then enabling them to play games that don't look like a downs sufferer made anime (feel free to replace with your own insult). What if you could play games with both beautiful graphics and the controls you want?

All Sony would have to do to enable this functionality would be to write the driver and create a USB attachment to power the sensor bar - both are trivial. The only truly hard part would be to enable developers to easily use this functionality, but that shouldn't take more than a small number months, at the very most.

It'd absolutely shock the market. It could be a big win...and Sony doesn't exactly have a lot of good press they'd risk loosing.

The only potential concern would be whether it would interfere with Sony's own motion controller. I think the augmented reality sounds really cool, and wouldn't want to see that fall by the wayside, either. There's a potential that they'd have to sacrifice it, but I really think they could just use this as a stepping stone. When it comes time to roll it out, there's even a good story to make it compelling.

"Last fall, we were proud to add the ability to use Wii controllers to our system. It really changed the gaming landscape. Today, though, we are going to go beyond that. When we started the project to enable the Wii controllers, we knew those controllers were designed for what ultimately is a simpler system. And we're seeing that today - these controllers are putting limitations on the games that use them. The capabilities of the PS3 simply go well beyond what the Wii controllers are able to support. So today, we're excited to show you a product that improves our motion controlling to a level of accuracy and granularity that can truly take advantage of the power the PS3 has to offer. Introducing the Sony *cool marketing name here* controller."

Don't forget the really cool augmented reality demos.