You: “I would like to link my Olympus Digital Camera to my PC via a USB port because I don’t have an xD Picture card reader.”

*Clicks on [Open folder to view files]*

You: “OMG… these are pictures I took a LONG time ago… where’s my new ones?”

Vista:

If you try to copy the pictures, and preview them after you copy them to your HD, you will find that they are still the same new pictures that you took recently, BUT the thumbnail vista gives them in Explorer looks like older pictures you have taken.

Now… how to solve this?

Right click the picture, go to Properties.

Go to the “Details” tab.

At the bottom, right above “OK”, click Remove Properties and Personal information

Click the bullet that says “Remove properties from this file:”, Select All, then OK.

After it’s all said and done, refresh windows explorer, you should now see your new pictures instead of your old ones!

Finally, I can access my printer on my home network… using particular advice from this forum post, I was able to access the wizard to install my printer… however, my model wasn’t listed under available signed drivers, and pointing towards my setup CD didn’t work… so I just installed the drivers for the 5400 series and voila!  It’s working!  When I still try to connect to it through the network, access is denied… but if I try to manually print any document from a text editor or word processor, it works

Me is happy.

I haven’t written so long because of sheer MADNESS problems with my laptop and it’s wireless, courtesy of Vista, of course.  Through it all, I went through a crazy process trying to install Linux Ubuntu, and I ended up "destroying" my Broadcom wireless network as a result… thus, I put it in to Best Buy for servicing.  The diagnostic showed that the laptop couldn’t be fixed, so I got an exchange for it.  I now have a Sony Vaio N-Series, and just for ha-has, I tried to run the Ubuntu live cd.  Alas, I had NO PROBLEM getting it working.  It so happens that trying to get Linux working on HP/Compaq is a nightmare in hell.

I was able to start my Second Life internship with <a href="http://iotastudios.wordpress.com">Iota studios</a>, CEO Cody Rauh/Perefim Cao.  I’ve made a few interesting 3D builds so far, as that is what the internship entails.  Many content developers in Second Life know that any complete object holds three things together:

• A 3D design/interface
• Texturing
• Scripting

Sculpting is also part of the mix, but very optional… as there are very few things that can’t be made without prims… but it saves prim count.

I can’t believe the deficiencies that Vista has with my video card. When I routinely try to do my DJing gig on Second Life, I have to run Second Life + Winamp/Shoutcast. Now this is ridiculous, because eventually, my windows (and screen) looks like the following:

Now… my explorer bar RELOCATES to the top of the screen, when actually, it still only responds when I try to navigate it as if it were on the bottom. Whenever I maximize/minimize the windows, some appear transparent. Add on to this that the screen flickers back and forth, and you only end up with an extreme eyesore.

I’ve tried the following:

1) Reinstalling/updating the video drivers.
2) Running Vista in safe mode.
3) Closing everything else that runs in the background.

After a bit of research, I noticed that the video card that my computer was equipped with is a weird one… the nVidia GeForce 6150. I went to some universal driver websites only to find one or two drivers tops for this card. I was always considering downgrading to Windows XP, but what if the same problems exist alongside those drivers…? nVidia isn’t giving us enough support here, what are we supposed to do?

In part, this is a cry for help, but I’m not going to stop trying to figure out what’s wrong.

I’m testing out this new tool I downloaded from Microsoft called Windows Live Writer for my blog… it’s a desktop app that’ll synchronize with my weblog whenever I have an active Internet connection… This will be particularly useful whenever I bring my laptop places WITHOUT an Internet connection, but have something to write about.  Perhaps if I keep it up, I can even catch up to my colleague Marshall Sponder and his frequent blog updates.

My latest news is that I’m currently going to tackle doing custom projects for clients on Second Life, and have developed my own special tipjar app… which I hope to complete soon and put it up on SLexchange.

Also, I’m organizing an event (or series of events) for YoD 2007 (Year of the Dolphin), on Second Life.  My partner in this endeavor is Reg Mannonen, one of the most well known aquatics on SL.  I’m currently collecting information on dolphins and their endangerment, so I can find a way to have this information available to the public on SL.

Verizon DSL… decent internet, reputable company. But guess what: over the course of three weeks, my internet went on and off on me every five minutes, causing me to have to relog on Maple Story, Meebo, and Second Life. Now… you can sure bet that I called Verizon to troubleshoot the issue, but they just kept telling me to restart the modem, and a bunch of silly nonsense, one of which I even logged into the DSL modem itself to re-configure it.

Now… curious as to what could be causing the problem, I logged into my router to see when/why my DSL connection is cutting off. Look at what I see:

Firewall log:
Tues Aug 7 13:48:42 2007 1 Blocked by DoS protection 192.168.2.3
Tues Aug 7 13:49:46 2007 1 Blocked by DoS protection 192.168.2.3
Tues Aug 7 13:50:43 2007 1 Blocked by DoS protection 192.168.2.3
Tues Aug 7 13:52:55 2007 1 Blocked by DoS protection 192.168.2.3
Tues Aug 7 13:54:05 2007 1 Blocked by DoS protection 192.168.2.3…

Now seriously. What kinda company configures a router to block the ISP by default. What’s wrong with you people?

Curious as to how this might be, I click on “Connection Type” on the menu to the left, only to see it’s to Dynamic by default… where it should be set to PPPoE, thanks to the insane security Verizon has put on their lines.

So I click into PPPoE to configure it, use the Master Verizon Account name and password, as well as naming the service “Verizon” (though I’m sure you don’t have to do this by default). Once saved, my DSL connection was up and running again.

Many have warned me that Belkin hardware was unfriendly. Cisco/Linksys FTW. I’ll focus on getting one soon.

Today’s currently the opening of Angex Corp., hoping it will go well. Thought a freelance consultants business was a good premise for one. I can strengthen my knowledge of many things, by doing projects. Not to mention the motivation by making the money.

Yesterday, I went to a NYCwireless meeting, and we got into an interesting talk about a guy in Michigan who got arrested over using a cafe’s Wi-Fi outside of the premises. He got charged $400, and had to do 40 hours of community service. The way I see it, if their network was (purposely) unsecured, it’s not his problem. Could anything like this have any implications for the wireless community…?

Also, we talked of a release of a new wireless router called FON, which lets you separate a piece of your bandwidth to give free wireless access. This portion is totally modifiable by the owner, and it’s segregated into it’s own public LAN. It puts priority on the private LAN though. This may be a tremendous leap for free wi-fi, but I want to see how ISPs will react to it. If you think about it, if you use a local resident’s wi-fi, you have no real incentive to buy high speed of your own, unless they just give you tremendously low bandwidth. May cut off on their profits, but then yet, p2p networking always seems to knock off big business.

Angelus Daviau and I (Exinor Balczo) have established a base in SL, though I give Angelus credit for finding the sim and paying for it. From what I hear, it’s also historically marked as one of the first built sims in SL. We’re establishing a consultant business for any need, and calling it “Angex Corp.” Ang built most of the home while I tweaked some neat features, for example, you can see into the home from the outside, but you can’t see the outside world from the inside. Gives it a sci-fi feel. Our SLurl.

Also, as promised, I had Destroy Television over at my event, and it was pure mayhem. If you go to flickr, and search up “Exinor,” “SLC,” or “spank,” you’ll see most of the action at SLC.

I’ve finished downloaded Maya today, so I hope to be working with sculpted prims soon. Also, I may not tackle that position as promotions manager after all… I have too many other things to work out.

Not to mention… I think the Dean and I have the wagon and horse we’ll need for the hoedown for sure. I’ll have some more pics up later!

For those who don’t know… I’m working with my school (Monroe College) for an internship on Second Life. I was explicitly asked by Professor Kmir to keep a working log of everything I accomplish, so I shall use this blog space to document all of my achievements, whether intern related or not.

1. Helped to establish the home base for Monroe College on Second Life
2. Created a sensor which tells all visitors of the Dean is online or not
3. Created the sign in front of the campus, as well as the granite walkway
4. Furnish the Interns’ Lounge area
5. Created an object which gives visitors information about Monroe as well as a free T-shirt
6. Created an object that links to the Interns’ or Employers’ forms if needed
7. Helped fellow internship members with their respective projects
8. Created a tip jar which says one of four random phrases
9. Learned to use group abilities and permissions signing
10. Scripted a greeter that welcomes visitors into the campus
11. Created the welcoming sign right outside the door

Also… watch out for my StarCity Video Game outfit event tomorrow… because my special guest there is Destroy Television! I will bring as much mayhem and chaos as I can to make this an interesting event for DTV’s upcoming movie. Also… I need to brush up on my promotions/sponsorship skills if I wish to get that promotion in Second Life Casinos. Also, my project to host a hoedown is falling through the floor… all I really have is a horse and cart to pick up people around the SIM, but haven’t found such a thing as squaredance poseballs.