This video went viral on social media today and is quite fascinating to watch. I just had to do something interesting with it.
Category: Technology
Instagram Five 2/28/17
Some really good posts from my Instagram feed today:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BRAQnJVhf9i/?taken-by=jasonhenry
Instagram opens up an entire new world for me, inspiring me everyday with people’s life stories.
Follow me on Instagram at @macmelonsig
YouTube Rewind 2016
Another year of YouTube is nearly in the books. To celebrate 2016’s greatest moments, the annual Rewind is back again and better than ever.
This is my reaction video. Enjoy!
The Gold Ones
My ears get to meet new beats.
I just bought a pair of gold colored headphones the other day, which is a first, even if it’s just a cosmetic thing that makes no difference on the sound quality. They sound like dynamite but of course aren’t Bose, which is the standard for great headphones. Most of my headphones either short out in one side or break in half or I accidentally rip the headphone jack from the cord after standing up with the headphones still connected to the computer and over my head.
There’s nothing like listening to some of my favorite songs with a comfortable pair of head-speakers. These are made by Vivitar, a company also known for producing cameras.
#NaNoPoblano2016 Day 23
Instagram Five
A select group of Instagram posts I discovered in my feed today. The creativity could never be any lesser.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BKoEXXJhboi/
Parachute over the beach
Sunset
Riot gear
Perspective
https://www.instagram.com/p/BKjsnSkg9re/
Cheers
Expert or Bust
Starting Fresh Once Again
And here we go again…a new set of keys…a new motivation to go forth and be better.
I’ve just bought a new Dell Inspiron 15 computer from Best Buy, home of the Geek Squad. My previous machine had really been through the ringer. The charging port was broken and wouldn’t charge anymore and the lid had broken off its hinge again. More importantly though was the recent development of a piece of crypto malware that had locked me out and demanded I call a number and pay a certain amount of money to access my computer again. There was no way I was going to get past that annoying screen without some technical knowledge. Every password I entered into the box, even my login one, resulted in an “Access Denied” message along with the matching sound effect often heard in cartoons and action flicks.
Well, of course I was smart enough to look up the problem instead of falling for the ransom trick. That led me to downloading a program that was supposed to circumnavigate this piece of malware posing as an official message from the FBI/government. There was at least hope that my old computer would be saved and I’d be back to uploading pictures of yummy otter pops.
But the HitmanPro.kickstarter software so toted as the savior proved to not be the answer to kicking the ransomware out of the way (failing to even boot from the USB) and so other methods had to be taken, all of which proved worthless as well. So after numerous attempts to fix the problem, even calling the original manufacturer for support, I finally gave up and decided to dish out a couple hundred bucks for a brand new system. This new one is a lot thinner and lighter than the Toshiba brand I had been using for about 3 years. It feels more durable and less prone to falling apart after being moved around a lot. The keys are smoother and feel like air under my fingers while the touchpad glides with ease and doesn’t stick like my previous PC. After all these years of using a computer, it still never gets old of feeling like the new machine is your new best friend and the previous retired one is suddenly a second hand item that has lost its luster.
Froyo and More – A to Z Foods
I absolutely love the names Google gives to versions of their Android operating system. It sure is a lot better than the bland version numbers that they receive. Every phone has a personality just by looking at the name and you instantly feel a connection (if that sounds weird).
Now, I haven’t had a whole lot of experience with Android (only having had one phone that got lost or stolen, I don’t know which), but I have to say that the phones are a lot more friendly and customizable than the iPhone at first glance, though I’ve never owned an iPhone so I can’t be sure. There are many different companies offering Android phones at reasonable prices, while iPhone is just by Apple and can be very expensive.
Every Google Android version, from unnamed to the next delicious dessert:
Android 1.o, 1.1
Android 1.5 Cupcake
Android 1.6 Donut
Android 2.0, 2.1 Eclair
Android 2.2 Froyo – the first version that I bought in 2011, during the hype and rise of smartphones and tablets everywhere by nearly every major tech company.
Android 2.3, 2.4 Gingerbread
Android 3.0, 3.1, 3.2 Honeycomb
Android 4.0 Icecream Sandwich
Android 4.1 Jellybean
Android 4.4 KitKat
Android 5.x Lollipop
Android 6.x Marshmallow
What’s the next version going to be called? I’m predicting Hot Fudge or maybe even Chocolate Chip. It’s codenamed N for now. At least Google has a sense of humor.
I could really use a new smartphone. The screen on mine is busted and I’ve had it since 2013. I look back to the days when I was absolutely eager to buy a new phone, looking online and searching for the best deal. It was always a joy to receive it in the mail, unboxing it and instantly feeling like one of the cool kids, being able to upgrade from the out of style flipphone. Now, it’s not really that big of a deal anymore because I’ve grown up and the technology is not new anymore, but during my walks to college, listening to music from Pandora on my phone instantly made me feel great.
Nostalgia. It’s hard to shake it off.
What’s In A Like?
Nowadays, any piece of submitted content on the Internet has some way of reciprocating a response, a way of interacting with the creator. There are likes, dislikes, retweets, reblogs, comments, shares, reaction buttons, plus ones, and so much more. We are encouraged to connect and show some love (or hate) for our fellow users.
But what does this all really mean?
Are there any special awards given out for having the most likes? Not that I know of.
It’s a frivolous thing in my mind because you don’t usually remember that like after having moved on with your day. It gets lost in the shuffle with all of the other meandering things going on.
What was the first thing I ever liked on the Internet? I could not tell you. It would have to be on Facebook because MySpace didn’t have likes and YouTube was still using the star rating system at the time. Maybe it was one of my own posts because I was so desperate for attention back then and the online world was a great way for me to branch out.
I suppose it really serves as a way of validating something, showing that you care enough to provide feedback. Without all of the rating and sharing options, there wouldn’t be any social experience. Liking blog posts tells readers that the post was read and they got something from it (most of the time). You know who is reading and who cares.
Check out my latest YouTube video here
Throwback Thursday #2: VCR
The hey days of the VCR may be long over, but the memories and nostalgia still live on. In multiple totes are many family videos that were shot back in the ’90s and early 2000s that can only be played on one of these retro boxes unless they are painstakingly converted. The classic episodes of America’s Funniest Videos featured home videos on mini-VHS tapes, most likely played in a VCR at the studio. It was a delight to collect Disney movies on VHS, with their unique cases featuring sleek artwork, and the joy of hearing the “pop” and rush of air being released from the case after you opened it. Long ago, finding a cassette in a different color other than the standard black was a real treat. Different colors meant the videos were special, one-of-a-kind, or generally suitable for children of all ages.
Sadly, it’s now or never to convert our old VHS tapes to DVD or Blu-ray because of the magnetic tape degrading overtime, all those precious memories threatening to be lost forever. Christmases at Grandma O’s when I was five years old, vacations to Busch Gardens, old videos of me trying to hit a ball off the tee.
“Please be kind, rewind”, says that courteous label on rental movies that I took great pleasure in abiding by. It was a way of giving the employees less work to do when the video was returned, though some people liked to be mean and not rewind. I was always afraid that if I didn’t rewind, the store would come back at us with an extra charge or something. Rewinding one tape may not seem like much, but imagine having to rewind multiple titles with one VCR behind the counter, all before the first customers come in. Those words are an ultimatum essentially.
The “I taped the football game over our wedding and reception” was a classic plotline of late 20th century TV and movies.
Your little sister or brother might have put food or small toys into the video slot.
The tape might have gotten jammed in the machine or become tangled with the headers
The VCR featured in the photo above is a Magnavox 4-header of mine. Not exactly collector worthy, a pretty common everyday model, but it still works perfectly, owing to the continued improvement and refinements of everything up to it. This classic machine still has its uses and isn’t quite dead yet, not until all families of the 20th century are long gone or a national law orders all of these infernal machines to be tossed in a landfill, which would be a sad ending to a deeply rooted generation.
An Awesome Mind 
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