FreeNAS & USB, Network, HD Transfer Rates / Speeds

I am currently setting up a FreeNAS (www.freenas.org) server for my home and that sparked my interest in ACTUAL transfer speeds among my various mediums. Before I dive into that I'll let the not so savvy in on what FreeNAS is and its capabilities.

FreeNAS is a a FREE Network Attached Storage operating system that you can load on older machines like Pentium4 PCs. It's for people who want one location to keep adding and sharing drives with whomever they choose. The OS is based on FreeBSD which is a ROCK SOLID OS. A million times stabler than Windows, yeah I said it! I will be using it for the following:

• Combining my drives and using software RAID to automatically back up everything. If setup correctly, it can keep my files available even if one of my drives crashes.
• Streaming Media Server to my XBox360 for watching downloaded shows
  
• Streaming iTunes server to share my music
  

So the following is a test I did in a real business environment (I rounded a bit on the MAX theoretical rates):



Now currently I have 2 x 500GB USB drives and 1 x 1TB USB drive which all have a whole bunch of shows scattered on them. I have them formatted in Windows NTFS. However, FreeNAS DOES NOT RECOMMEND using NTFS. It recommends formatting to UFS which is touted to be faster, more efficient and more secure.



Pretty sad right now at 6MB/s. I am going to try and backup everything this weekend and try to use the recommended UFS on my drives. My goal is to upgrade my network to a gigabit network and be able to transfer my 700MB shows at 20-30MB/s via LAN. Which would be around 30 seconds to copy a show. Why? Because I want to be as close to the max speed of my USB drive as possible. It essentially will be my only bottleneck.

For now, I have a 7 port USB hub running FreeNAS off a laptop. I use USB drives because it just makes my life easier to plug them in a hub and I really don't need SATA speed.

I will post instructions on my setup and how it went with UFS soon. Until then, here are some videos and links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8-DrhYKTFE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S8ixAR4Opo

http://www.lagesse.org/freenas-tutorial-for-windows-users-part-one-installation/

http://www.hexteq.net/2009/07/17/freenas-tutorial-part-1-introduction-to-freenas/

Scientists Discover 'a new state of matter' with Aluminum

"Oxford scientists have created a transparent form of aluminium by bombarding the metal with the world’s most powerful soft X-ray laser. 'Transparent aluminium' previously only existed in science fiction, featuring in the movie Star Trek IV, but the real material is an exotic new state of matter with implications for planetary science and nuclear fusion."

[Gizmodo via Physorg]

Daily Dose of Imagery - 'parking after rain'

KFC's Secret Recipe

This makes me want to get a deep fryer right now! Click the image below to see the video on how to make KFC chicken at home! (http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/video/2009/jul/24/food-and-drink-chicken)




Ingredients:

'KFC' mix
1 teaspoon ground oregano
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon ground sage
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
1 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon onion salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons Accent (MSG)
GFC mix
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp mustard powder
1 tsp sage
1 tsp celery seeds
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp dried onion flakes
2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp ground white pepper

Bacardi Commercial Music Discovery - Matt and Kim

Saw a Bacardi commercial way back and discovered a new band that I like called 'Matt and Kim'. I thought I would post about it after discovering it again in my playlist.

Here's the Bacardi commercial:


Below is their music video for the same song which is pretty sweet. The video shows them playing their instruments in the strangest places.



YouTube Channel
(http://www.youtube.com/user/mattandkim)

Matt and Kim Official Website
(http://www.mattandkimmusic.com)

'Ninja Assassin' Trailer - AWESOME!

Now THIS is a sweet Ninja movie!

'Pandorum' Starring Ben Foster and Dennis Quaid (SciFi Horror)

From the producers of 'Resident Evil':

Funny Public Service Announcements for the Future

Exclusive scene from 'Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs'

Hilarious 'Wapakman' Teaser Trailer

Apparently this is a teaser for a new Phillipine movie in development.

My Collection of Free Apps and Open Source Programs

Below is my list of FREE and open-source programs by function:

Antivius & Firewall
Comodo Internet Security - Free for business/commercial use as well! The Comodo website has become a bit tricky. Just go get the Antivirus program for Home and you will actually get the full Internet Security package which includes the firewall for free. If you go to the Internet Security link it takes you to the pay version.
Firewall rated higher than the rest, click here to read the review.



DVD Player
VLC Portable (inlcuded in the Portable Apps Suite). - Not the best DVD player, but it's free.



Media Player
GOM - Automatically identifies and downloads any missing codecs for a media file! Keyboard shortcuts are the most convenient and intuitive I've seen in any media player.



File Compression/Extraction
WinRAR - Fast, clean and easy for ZIP, RAR, ISO, etc. Now with a 64-bit version too!



Batch File Rename
File Renamer Basic - easy on the eyes yet versatile with commands.


DVD Ripping
Handbrake - gotta love presets for output to different formats! Presets:

• Apple
  • Universal
  • iPod
  • iPhone & iPod Touch
  • AppleTV
  • QuickTime
  • Legacy
    • AppleTV Legacy
    • iPhone Legacy
    • iPod Legacy
• Basic
  • Normal
  • Classic
• High Profile
  • Animation
  • Constant Quality Rate
  • Film
  • Television
• Gaming Consoles
  • PSP
  • PS3
  • Xbox 360

CD/DVD Backup, ISO and Burning
ImgBurn - Quick and easy to burn ISOs or create ISOs. Unfortunately you can't just copy a CD to another CD, you'll have to create the ISO first and then burn the ISO. Forces/helps you have an ISO backup of whatever you're burning though.


FTP Site Manager
FileZilla - Self-explanatory.


Screen Capture
Gadwin PrintScreen - Screenshots only, no image editing sadly. BUT you have these convenient options:

• Copy captured area to Clipboard
• Copy captured area to Printer
• Send captured area via E-mail
• Copy captured area to File
  

Notepad Replacement/Coding XML, HTML, etc.
Notepad+++ - Oooo colors...


Telnet Connection Manager
Putty Connection Manager - Of course you will need Putty first.


IP Scanning
Angry IP - better than Advanced IPScan. Pulls more fields, however Comodo thinks it's malicious but I trust it.

'Killer Bean Forever' Review

Jeff Lew,

You are a GREAT animator, but this isn't a great follow-up to 'The Killer Bean 2'... 'One man, one movie' is a very ambitious goal, but each of us has his weaknesses. You are a great animator, but not the best story teller. I felt that this movie was very anticlimactic. Maybe it was the over-the-top action, or maybe it was the voice acting or both. It just felt monotone all thoughout the film. The lines were a bit cheesy and it didn't help that the Killer Bean was literally invincible against any army. Even in front of an army of thugs, the Killer Bean just didn't care, and maybe that's the character you wanted to create. In doing so, you lost his emotional range and as a viewer, the Killer Bean was never really in danger. All the suspense was lost.

So, with that said, I move onto the action scenes. You had a few clever and humorous action scenes, but none compare to the bullet catch in 'The Killer Bean 2'. Nothing was that cool and heart-stopping at the same time. That's what you needed in this film to save the story, because the coolness factor was simply non-existent. Hollywood has re-packaged stories over and over throughout time, but there's eventually a hit among them. It's just how you dress up the package.

On the plus side, the scenes were beautifully rendered, reflections were terrific, rag doll effects were nice, animation was flawless and your shortcuts worked perfectly. My advice, two heads are better than one, especially if one is a real good script writer/story teller.


Still a fan,
csxstudios

Miller Ad (Beer and Makeup)

Great Miller Ad (click image to enlarge)

Killer Bean Forever DVD Arrived!

My autographed copy of the 'Killer Bean Forever' DVD by Jeff Lew finally arrived! Can't wait to watch it tonight!!! I will post a review ASAP.

GI Joe Trailer 2 HD

In theaters 08.07.09

Daily Dose of Imagery - 'broken walls, green windows'

Canon PowerShot G10: Prosumer Point-and-Shoot Camera

The Canon Powershot G10 is a great point and shoot camera, but it can't even come close to an SLR.

When I considered purchasing this camera I was in envy of SLRs, but I wasn't ready to make the jump. Plus the thought of lugging around a giant camera was off-putting.

I purchased this camera thinking I could achieve somewhat decent DOF shots in preparation of moving to an SLR. You cannot achieve a shallow DOF on this camera unless you are really close, like 30mm close to an object. Zooming in on a subject will not help, because it isn't a constant aperture. Zooming in actually changes your aperture as well. Here are some examples:



But, if you're really close, you can achieve these results:




So my final thoughts on this camera are this:

• You will have a better understanding of exposure, shutter speed, ISO settings, levels, and RAW images.
• You will not see a difference switching apertures unless you use manual focus with the scroll wheel on abnormally close subjects.
• You will have awesome macro shots.
• You may find the camera a bit too big to comfortably have in your pocket.
• There is no in-between camera from a regular point-and-shoot to an SLR camera.
• If you are in SLR envy, MAKE THE JUMP! Don't be afraid!
  

GO Portable! TrueCrypt + Portable Apps + Thunderbird + Roboform

There are essentially 3 ways to manage your settings as you float from computer to computer.

1. Online Syncing
2. Manually copying/syncing from computer-to-computer
3. Go portable!

I like to physically keep my files, so I don't trust option#1 and option#2 is too arduous. That's why I've been a big supporter of going portable. I carry around a 500GB WD Passport. My files are encrypted (NSA level encryption) with TrueCrypt (http://www.truecrypt.org/downloads) and I use the Portable Apps suite (http://portableapps.com/suite) to run Firefox. Thunderbird (http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/thunderbird_portable) is my portable e-mail program.

Here's my setup:

1. After installing TrueCrypt I created a 400GB container so that I have 100 GB left-over on my portable hard drive to transfer files on a foreign PC.
2. Once my new 400GB container is mounted (I chose drive letter M to be safe), I installed the Portable Apps Suite to M:\
3. I also, install Thunderbird Portable into it's own folder in M:\
4. Created a batch script in M:\ to run my programs all at once, by putting the following into a text document and renaming the saved file from .txt to .bat:
   start apps\startportableapps.exe
   start apps\portableapps\roboform\portableroboform.exe
   start apps\portableapps\firefoxportable3\firefoxportable.exe
   exit

And that's pretty much it. I launch Thunderbird separately since I don't normally use it at home. Any bookmark, add-on, contact, etc. that I add to any of my portable apps is now, well, portable. I made a copy of my 400GB container and when I need to backup, I mount both of them and use Microsoft's Robocopy to sync them one-way (from the new container to the old only).

Get Robocopy:

1. Download here: http://www.csxstudios.com/share/Robocopy.zip
2. Extract Robocopy.exe to your C:\Windows\System32 folder

Robocopy script:
robocopy M: S: /MIR /Z /R:1 /W:1 /ETA /TEE

• M: is my portable 400GB container
• S: is the backup container

Last, I have my essential add-ons for Firefox Portable:

• Adblock Plus
  Ad-free web-browsing. Never see an ad again, especially on Facebook!
  
• AI Roboform PORTABLE Toolbar for Firefox
  I paid for this add-on, but to me it's well worth it. Basically it stores your passwords and will GO to the site you want and AUTOMATICALLY log you in. Very convenient. Not to mention, the added security of getting around keyloggers, because you never have to type your password
  
• BetterYouTube
  Puts a convenient link under YouTube videos, so you can download the video. (Needs Greasemonkey)
  
• DownloadThemAll!
  MUST HAVE. Download files way faster and it can download all files off a site automatically.
  
• Greasemonkey
  Enables BetterYouTube and other add-ons to work.
  
• Nuke Anything Enhanced
  Right click on any part of a web page and remove it to never see it again.
  
• TinyMenu
  Makes my firefox menu tiny so I have a bigger browsing window.
  
• Ubiquity
  Search, send e-mails, make calendar events, check weather, find directions, etc. using commands anywhere in Firefox by pressing CTRL+SPACEBAR.

Note:
It's a good idea to keep a copy of TrueCrypt outside of your container on the unencrypted empty space of your hard drive. Just in case you're on someone else's computer and need to access your files or you do a fresh install and can't access the internet (especially when you keep your computer drivers in your truecrypt volume...).

P90X Charts by Program

I've been really slacking for the past 4 months without exercising. I feel it's time to get back in shape and stick to it this time. This is how intense P90X is:

As you can see, Plyometrics "is the mother of all workouts" in this program. In one hour, I burned 1,000 calories!!!

Next, we have my max heart rates. I have been to a doctor and I do have palpatations, so don't be alarmed by these figures:

Really, I am healthy, I just have an abnormally high heart rate. I reach up to 225, but an average healthy adult is at around 175.

Next is my average heart rate by program:

Not too bad...right?...

Last, is the percentage of time throughout the exercise that I stay within my suggested heart zone for exercising:

I think I need to up my heart zone... Tony Horton states a few times that his heart rate climbs up to 140 and to him, that is REALLY fast... I'm not terribly out of shape, I swear!

Custom Header Navigation & NavBar Removal in Blogger

First I'll start off with the NavBar removal. Go to your Dashboard > Layout > Edit HTML and add the following code underneath your template author info:
#navbar-iframe {
display: none !important;
}


Now, for the custom header navigation you will need to scroll pretty far down to:
div id="content wrapper">
Change maxwidgets='4' and showaddelement='yes'


Scroll down to the /* ---( header and site name ) --- */ section and paste the following:
#newnavbar {
font-size:100%;
list-style-type: none;
display:inline;
padding:0px;
margin:0px;
border:0px solid;
}

#newnavbar a {
text-decoration: none;
color: $pagetitlecolor;
}

#newnavbar a:hover {
color: #eee;
}


Save Template

Now go to Page Elements > Add a Gadget > HTML/Javascript and modify the following html:


Last, rearrange your new HTML/Javascript widget under your header:


Note: My Header banner has been modified to be slightly taller. I had to add two navbar widgets to push my navigation links down further so that is wasn't at the top of the banner.

Custom Subdomain for Your Blog with GoDaddy Using CNAME

If you have your own site at GoDaddy and you want to have http://blog.yoursite.com to be your Blogger address, here are the steps:

1. Log in to your account at www.godaddy.com.
2. Go to the Domain Manager.
3. Click the domain that you'd like to use with your blog.
4. Click the Total DNS Control link at the bottom of the section entitled Total DNS.
5. Click Add New CNAME Record in the box labelled CNAMES (aliases).
   
6. For the Name, type blog or whatever you want your subdomain to be.
7. Enter ghs.google.com as the Host Name. Specify a TTL or use the default setting of 1 hour.
8. Click OK, and then click OK again.
9. WAIT an hour to 3 hours...
   
10. Open a command prompt window (Windows Key + R, type CMD, press OK)
11. type ping blog.yoursite.com (of course you'll need to change yoursite.com to your actual website...)
12. press Enter
    
13. Repeat every hour or so until you get a reply (took me about 3 hours for DNS records to update)
14. When you get a reply, log into your Blogger account - http://www.blogger.com
15. Go to Settings > Publishing > switch to Custom Domain > click Advanced Settings
16. Fill in the Your Domain field with blog.yoursite.com (of course you'll need to change yoursite.com to your actual website...)
17. Complete the Word Verification and hit Save Settings

You're done!

Mosaic Photo Software (freeware)

Ever wanted to make a mosaic photo like the one below? Head on over to:
http://www.sixdots.de/mosaik/en/index.php

Password Stealing via Power Outlet or Lasers?!!

Gizmodo has an article stating hackers have a way of logging your keystrokes by monitoring power currents or using lasers:
http://gizmodo.com/5312995/power+line-exploit-logs-your-keystrokes-using-outlets-lasers

'Redsand Productions' 3D Website Test

Considering designing a website entirely in 3D:

'The Studio' Website

Created a mock site for a client:

Open a Banana Like a Monkey

The only reason I open from the stem side is to avoid the nub at the end. I don't struggle like this guy, but for those that do, here ya go:

Google Chrome OS Distribution Chain

Google Chrome OS cartoon of the 11 step distribution from Google Blogoscoped:
http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2009-07-08-n48.html

'Office 2010 The Movie'???

Hilarious and cool, all at the same time!

'District 9' New Movie Trailer

Movie looks pretty good, but how are they going to explain how humans forced aliens with superior intellect and technology into "District 9" for 28 years?!

Daily Dose of Imagery - Clouds over Hills in Iran

'Transformers 2' Visual Effects Process of Alice by Gizmodo

Gizmodo has a sweet break down on how Digital Domain did a few scenes of Alice in 'Transformers 2'. Here's the link:
http://gizmodo.com/5305809/why-just-2-seconds-of-transformers-2-took-3-months-to-complete

Understanding a Petabyte Visually by Mozy

I can't wait to get my hands on a petabyte! Great visual below by Mozy:

Daily Dose of Imagery - Cloud Building

Daily Dose of Imagery is among my favorite photo sites. Today's photo is pretty sweet:
"Seen at Mel Lastman Square in North York."

Step-by-Step Websites, Blogs, SEO, SEM All Wrapped Up

So, for the past week I've returned to blogging and establishing my own solid website:
http://www.csxstudios.com.

In doing so, I've pieced together my own way of establishing a website with SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and SEM (Search Engine Marketing) in mind. For my reader (hopefully readers... heh), here's how I would get started with a pretty solid site.

1. Get a Google account (http://www.gmail.com)
2. Purchase your domain and hosting. I used GoDaddy (http://www.godaddy.com).
3. Keep your website goals simple. For example, my site has ONLY THREE functions:

• Display my portfolio
• Display headlines from my blog
  
• Display my services

4. Design your site and put it together.
5. Optimize with Google's Webmaster Tools and Analytics.

Here's how I put together my site step-by-step:

PART I-
"Display my portfolio"
You could make your own custom flash gallery and spend hours making it your own...
OR
Embed one of your public Google Photos/Picasa Web Albums into your site as a Slideshow using good ol' copy and paste! See below:


PART II-
"Display headlines from my blog"
Google offers templated blog sites for you through Blogger (http://www.blogger.com).
So, sign up, pick a template and start blogging.

After a few blogs, it's time to get more flexible with Feedburner (http://www.feedburner.com). Input your new feedburner address in your Blogger > Settings > Site Feed:


In Feedburner start publicizing with these:

• Feed Count - little widget on your blog sidebar to show off your readers.
• BuzzBoost - copy and paste to embed into your ACTUAL website.
• You have to hit Activate on each one (at the bottom).

PART III-
"Display my services"
After listing "My Services" in HTML on my actual site, I used a simple built-in GoDaddy form(webformmailer.asp). Only two steps:
1. Go to Hosting > Manage Account > Content > Form Mail to specify your e-mail address.

2. Use the webformmailer form mail code from GoDaddy into your html page:
http://help.godaddy.com/article/512#webformmailer
Change interval from "hourly" to "default" and format from "html" to "text".

PART IV-
"Design your site and put it together"
I designed my site in Photoshop and used tables to put my slices together in Dreamweaver. There are free solutions such as GIMP for design and Microsoft's Visual Web Developer Express as a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) HTML editor.


PART V-
"Optimize..."
I'll first start off with metatags:


Next, you will need to sign up for:

• Google Webmaster Tools (http://www.google.com/webmaster)
  
• Google Analytics (http://www.google.com/analytics)
  

After signing up for each they both give you snippets of code to put into your html to verify you are the owner of the website. Placement looks like this:


Last, but not least, add robots.txt to your main website directory. Basically FTP to your site and stick in robots.txt there. Robots.txt helps the google crawler index your site. You generate your Robots.txt in Google Webmaster under Site Configuration > Crawler Access > Generate robots.txt:


Last Few Notes:

• Backlinks - the more people that link back to your site, the better.
• Age - the longer your site has been established the better.
• Sitemaps - submit your sitemap to Google Webmaster