TheSa|nt’s Blog

It has finally happened. A driver and software for laptops using Synaptic touchpads has been created that allows multi-touch support. Now you can use 2 and 3 finger gestures on your touchpad to scroll, open an application, zoom in and out, etc. It works for almost any HP laptop (made in the last decade or so) or any other brand that uses a Synaptic pad. So far I have gotten it to work on 2 HP’s, 2 Gateways and 1 Compaq

Direct Download Links for Synaptics TouchPad Driver version 15.0.9.0

Download Synaptics TouchPad Driver for Windows Vista/7: sp47815.exe(source)

Download Synaptics TouchPad Driver for Windows XP: sp47816.exe (source)

Once you have downloaded and installed the drivers, go to Control Panel, Mouse settings and you will find the Device Settings tab, and then click on Settings button. You will find the options there.

Source: dVice, Panasonic and engadget

Panasonic is really going for it. Their new TV coming out this fall has the craziest spec list I’ve ever seen. First off: it’s a 152-inch plasma screen, which means you’ll need to knock a wall down and bring in a forklift to stick it in your living room. Second: it has 4K resolution, which is four times standard HD. Third: it’s 3D, of course.

So what do you think, do you want one? Well, expect to pay north of half a million dollars for it if you do. And that’s not counting the energy that this thing will suck up, which will probably double your electricity bills. But come on, just imagine how awesome How I Met Your Mother will look on this thing!

TheSa|nt: Simply stated….awesome! I want one!

Have you ever noticed that when you are sleeping and when it comes time to wake up for something, you don’t fully awake (you’re half asleep), and your mind can sometimes run into a sort of debate with itself? I call it the debate between your logical and illogical inner selfs. It’s the brain trying to decipher what is or is not real through logical thinking.

Scenario one, you are sleeping but are slightly awakened by the sensation that you need to use the restroom. You are not fully awake, only half..so sometimes two thoughts may go through your head. Yes, you could fully wake up, and go use the restroom; but, you could also stay in bed and continue enjoying yourself since your in such a relaxed state of mind. So, your mind starts to feed you illogical thoughts like “maybe if I turn over to my other side, it will go away and I can continue sleeping”. At this point your mind argues with itself (for however short the time may be), until it comes to the appropriate decision (the logical decision), mostly because you have awaken enough to think straight.

I know it’s a random thought, but for some reason I wanted to record it in words somewhere. I find those moments to be odd yet interesting.

Is it just me or does it seem like it’s going to suck? Microsoft doesn’t even know what it will or will not support. They say “it won’t support multitasking”…then “Windows 7 to support multitasking”, “Windows 7 won’t allow apps”, “well…..sortof….ok maybe it will”. Really?

It sounds like MS is simply trying to create a locked down version of Windows Mobile so that it pisses users off the same as the iphone. Well…that’s one way of looking at competition against Apple.

Windows phones have always been popular for being open, file friendly, and fully customizable. Yes a nice UI is cool looking, but will Windows Phone 7 still perform like a miniature laptop in your pocket? If not, I know I won’t be using it when it comes out. I use mine Windows 6.5 phone for both play and business. The things I use it for when it comes to business…no other phone seems to be able to accomplish.

If it turns out that the new Windows Phone 7 OS turns into a new iPhone wannabe, I will be converting over to Android. At least it is still open (for the most part) and pretty much becomes plan B. Not to mention, more developers choose to write apps for iPhone and Android before even remembering that Windows phones exist.

That Android Incredible is starting to look pretty nice :/

What do you think? Are you for or against a more locked down/limited Windows phone? Or are you hoping for a more versatile version of whats already there?

With Nasa quiting the space game, who do you think will be taking their place? The US can’t simply back out and let the world pass us up. I think the president is a ding-bat (yes, I said it) for even thinking this could benefit our country.

I think Google should make an attempt at capitalizing on what space has to offer. They seem to pull everything off that they by not only making something successful, but bringing us something no one else has.

They have created an awesome search platform. They have brought us an awesome phone OS. They have brought us numerous web and computer applications such as Google Earth, Maps and so much more. They are even jumping into the ISP world now by offering Google ISP…an option that forces the competition to realize that it’s time to get with the times and stop milking us for every single megabit.

So I think Google has a great chance at getting to space. Who would you like to see in space?

I have always noticed that video games give me a major cause of the munchies. So I wondered, is it playing video games, or something else that causes it. Is it that fact that I am so drawn into something, that I don’t to watch how much of anything else I am doing as long as my mind is at peace. Maybe my hands are so busy that during times of having to wait (i.e., lobby waiting for the next round of online play), they don’t want to stop so they reach for snacks while I wait.

SO! I spent some time and asked a large group of random people playing online about their snacking habits. A total of 62 people to be exact (to make the sample large enough to count for something).

My selection was random and unbiased, and I asked each one the same questions. At the conclusion of things, I had the following information:

• 21 out of 62 people said they prefer to have something to snack on while watching a movie.
• 2 out of the 21 said that during a movie, if they ran out…they might get back up to get something more.
• 1 out of 62 people said they almost always snack when watching general TV.
• 0 out of 1 said that while watching TV, if they ran out…they might get back up to get something more.
• 46 out of 62 people said that they prefer to have something to snack on while watching their favorite sport on TV (or live).
• 29 out of the 46 said that while watching the sport, if they ran out…they might get back up to get something more (2 of which said only if the game was live).

Ok, well we see that Sports take the prize so far when it comes to snacking, so lets take a look at Video Games. A few extra questions were asked in this category to get the best idea.

• 58 out of 62 people said they prefer to have something to snack on while playing video games.
• 19 out of the 58 said they will (usually) only do it while playing online with other people, or have friends present.
• 41 out of the 58 people said they would probably get up for more if they ran out.
• 7 out of the 58 said they simply just do it. That they don’t really put much thought into it (as if it was a natural reflex).

Is it activities of high interaction that cause people to want to snack? This would explain why sports and video games have such a high rate of occurrences.

Regardless, this study proves that video games do indeed cause a mean case of the munchies! That’s 93.5% of the people admitting that video games cause them to want to get up to grab a snack.

So watch out when playing games (especially online with other people). Too much of this…may lead to obesity, or cause you to go mad if you run out of things to eat

TheSa|nt

Poc Network developed a really fun tool to help you make decisions. They call it the Random Thingy Chooser, and it allows you to fill in multiple options and then chooses an option for you.

It’s an awesome tool when you cannot make up your mind. It also works for when your trying to come up with a random item in a list. As an example, if your running a contest on your website and want something to randomly pick a winner…simply paste all the names entered into your drawing, each one on it’s own line, and hit the “choose for me” button. It will then pick your winner.

You can also visit it via a short url by going to: http://thingy.pocinc.net

I just felt like sharing it since we use it so much around here!

TheSa|nt

It looks like a lot of Xbox Live users are stuck in the dark with only the ability chat. Connection to game servers has been interrupted resulting in an error when a user attempts to connect.

What could be the cause this time?  …*ponders*

(Update): It’s back online (it was server troubles)

This is great!

Google is planning on jumping into the ISP pool to compete against some of the major companies to show that they can indeed offer ultra high speeds & allow access to all web-applications, while still maintaining a stable network. They are planning on offering the service to select test group areas (of up to 500,000 users) at speeds of more than 100x the average that current providers do.

This is awesome news!  It’s about time one of the companies took the effort to step up and say hey! Yes we can! If Japan can offer 300-400+mbit/s on cell phones….we sure as heck can do the same for at least our home connections….

Jan 21, 2010 – Well it appears Skype went down this morning to the point where it disconnected an unknown amount of users, and even their website times out when trying to log in for an answer.

No known information has surfaced yet about the disruption in services, how many are effected, or how long the disruption will last.

I remember hearing about a major outage in 2007 that brought down a claimed 220 million people (including businesses relying on their service). Hopefully this isn’t the same.

Could this be one of the first major attacks of 2010 by another country or “group”, or just a major blooper made by a tech somewhere who spilled his coffee on the wrong piece of equipment?

So far some theories include that the storms in California could be causing troublesome power outages that could be affecting Skype services/traffic.

Update:

It would appear Skype services are back online. Their website is a bit slow but that is probably due to the amount of traffic the incident lead to.