Dual Screen Laptops a Reality (and coming soon?)

A friend sent me a link which refers to a Gizmodo article debuting some sweet dual screen notebook computers from Alaskan company gScreen.

I can’t tell you how often I’ve thought “gee, it would be great if I had dual screens on my laptop like my desktop.”  Really, I can’t… but trust me it’s been > 10.

Ok, so you won’t find me in a coffee shop with both screens extended, but when I’m in a testing lab,  I can easily see Wireshark | Putty | Terminal on one screen, application in another.  No more flipping back and forth.

I <3 My Pipes to the Intarwebs

It’s difficult to find sites that are capable of truly testing high speed Internet connections.  Speedtest.net is de facto for tests in this area of the US, but test results are often finickly.  There’s a whole slew of problems with this service: 1> web servers were designed to serve, not receive; 2> the host provider may be an ISP that’s oversold; 3> you may be testing during the ISP’s peak time; 4> the testing server may not be tweaked for high TCP performance.

So, I’ve been using Internet2′s list of NDT servers that use the customized Web100 kernel which been tweaked for 100Mbps+ throughput.  When your system is tweaked properly, you’ll find much more accurate results than what you’ll see from Speedtest.net’s servers.

Below is the result of a test from a Windows 2008 R2 RC box with tweaked TCP parameters for high throughput:

Sweet.

Here’s a list of Internet speed test sites I frequent:

• Internet2 NDT
• Verizon Online
• Speedtest.net
• Speakeasy
• DSL Reports

PS – FWIW, Verizon has built their speed test site using the same userland client as the Internet2 NDT servers, but I’ve always had trouble getting upload to scale beyond 4Mbps on a Windows box no matter how it’s tweaked.  YMMV

Lego 8-bit Trip

Check this awesome vid… I love 8-bit music.

I don’t understand how people have time to do stuff incredible/amazing/timeless stuff like this.  I barely have time to post it on my blog!

Weird Al: C.N.R.

Changing Default Codecs in Windows 7 RTM

I’ve been using the Windows 7 Release Candidate bits on my HTPC since the RC came out.  The RTM build was released to Technet on August 6, so I downloaded the ISOs and rebuilt the box with the RTM bits.

Unfortunately, the RTM build doesn’t seem to have corrected the issue that annoys me the most: the codec Microsoft included in Windows 7 is awful.  Yes, it plays most xvid/divx movies out-of-the-box, but it puts a comparatively high load on the CPU and hiccups during video play/fast-forwarding.

In the past, sidestepping this issue was as simple as installing a different codec, such as ffdshow.  In Windows 7, however, the operating system prefers the Microsoft package by default.  To change your preferred codec, use Preferred Filter Tweaker Tool for Windows 7 developed by clsid, one of the devs for ffdshow-tryouts.  On my workstation, I prefer to install the codecs myself, so this is the tool I use.

Alternatively, another program I’ve used with great success on my HTPC is a freeware app from Shark007.net called Windows 7 Codecs.  It not only allows you to adjust the default codecs, but includes ffdshow, Haali Media Splitter, DirectVobSub, Xvid, Ogg, Gabest, x264, and others during the install.  No need to download them all separately.

One last thing.  WMP12 (and, in turn, Media Center) doesn’t detect/play/associate MKV files by default.  I recommend you try Project Rémoulade from Divx Labs which adds the necessary registry keys to Windows 7 for MKV.  (I noticed this also worked for OGM files, too)  You can try the old method of adding the registry keys yourself, but I’ve found most people now recommend the Divx tool.

At any rate, after changing my preferred codec to the wonderful, amazing, dashing, celestial ffdshow, all is well in HTPC-land.  Videos are gorgeous, smooth, and I can fast-forward at lightning speeds.

Oh, and Windows 7 Ultimate / Home Premium makes one helluva nice HTPC box.

Anime Update

I haven’t had much free time lately – social requirements and all – but I finally got around to watching Bleach ep 230.  While I was a wee-bit ticked that the show was once again diverging from the Arancaar arcs, I have a feeling I’m going to fancy the Zanpaktou arc (at least, that’s what I’m calling it).  Also, the more I hear the intro song, Shōjo S by Scandal, the more I really, really like it.  It’s totally stuck in my head and I’m cool with that.  Music vid below…

I also enjoyed the latest Naruto Shippuden special, Kakashi Gaiden ~ A Boy’s Life on the Battlefield.  As predictable as every other Naruto episode, but it’s a fun show I have to see through to the end.  I don’t know why.

I’ve also (finally) started watching Trigun.  Wow… how did I miss this one for so long?  Honestly, each episode makes me lawl but still manages to combine that serious business overtone you get from complex characters.

Anyway, that’s what I’m watching.  How about you?