Mod-Box

Over the summer I had the brillant idea to softmod my X-Box. I went out and got a USB memory stick, and a USB->X-Box adapter (free PSO one from MS). After a bit of research I found out it wasn't going to work. Why, you may ask? Because I went out and bought the Halo Edition X-Box, which just happens to have a newer kernel than the original ones. This kernel was "mod proof". Key word here: was.

As of this writing I've soft-modded my X-Box. The reason? Because I could. After messing around for a bit I installed XBMC which has got to be a killer app for a home entertainment system. It can be used to stream music (from 'net or pc), watch DVD's, stream movies, and watch divx/mpeg4 videos. It's a mini multi-media center! Why Microsoft just didn't include these features in the X-Box escapes me.

For all of you who don't have a softmodded box let me tell you it's about as easy as possible now. You just download a special game save from the 'net. Stick it in your X-Box and load it in one of 3 defective games. This wonderful installer asks you a few questions and automates the rest. Soooo easy. I really recommend you give it a try. (Warning: In theory you COULD fsck up your X-Box so it doesn't work. Warning 2: Don't go on X-Box live with hack installed 'cause you'll be banned)

Pocket PC Goodness

Yesterday I went to a Tech Talk on security/encryption sponsored by Microsoft. I mainly went for free pizza that was to be given out at the event. Well, no such luck. The FLUNO center catered the talk. This means we got some fancy Hors D'oeuvres, and pop. Not exactly the pizza I was promsied. I would be upset but they raffled off some prizes and I got lucky and got the big one. A HP iPAQ pocket pc! Which is really a glorified calendar book, (or nes emulator!). If anyone has any suggestions on uses for a pocket pc (no I'm not giving it to you) let me know. Or if you can think of any cool games I can throw on it.

Fable

Well I broke down and bought Fable. The only thing I can say so far is wow. It's actually fun so far. It currently appears like there is a game invovled, unlike Black and White where they tagged the game on in the last month of development. My only complaint is the fact the game is made out of many small zones. When I say small I mean small. Some of these zones are like 10 feet across. In many cases you can run across the zone in less time than it took to load the zone. They should have done some dynamic loading or caching like Diablo II, World of Warcraft, or Dungeon Siege. Either that or made some of the zones bigger (some are actually a decent size). Even with this annoyance the game is enjoyable to play. If you're looking for a hack and slash RPG for XBox give it a try. The tagline in the commercials, "Every action has a consequence" is mostly true.

Free IPOD!

Well I've recently found a site where they are giving out free ipods. Sounds like a scam I know. When I first heard about it I just dismissed it as crap. But after doing some research and reading some articles in actual news sources it sounds like the whole thing is legit. Now I just need 5 referrals and I'm good to go. If your interested in signing up please use this link http://www.freeiPods.com/default.aspx?referer=9360016. If you want more info first check out freeipodguide.com or this wired article http://www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,64614,00.html?tw=wn_2culthead.

WoW Is a Time Eater

I go to play WoW for an hour maybe two to relax. Now it's 12 :20AM and I'm just getting done. Boy does this game suck you in. I haven't lost track of time playing a game in awhile, not since KOTOR have I wasted spent so much time playing a game.

Busy Busy

The first week of classes is done (we started last Thursday), and boy am I busy. I've got plenty of homework but that isn't taking up my time (haven't even looked at it yet). I've spent the last day or two trying to get a student org organized and ready to go for the new year. This involves tracking down all sorts of forms and people.

The biggest hassle is that our server appears to be messed up. It's not BROKEN per say it just happens we've had some random IP that wasn't registered with the College's network Admins. Don't ask me how that happened, my understanding was they gave us the IP in the first place. So now our org's network is cutoff until CAE get's back to me with updated info.

On top of the cutoff hassle they have decided to block all external port access into the system. Since our group has been hosting our own website we're now stuck. I spent some time trying to track down some webspace were we could host a dynamic site to have a basic registration page. Turns out all the U sponsored hosting really wants you to just use good old static html. Of course this doesn't make for a very good system to get new users registered. I finally had to host the thing on my home server over my cable connection.

My Gentoo system managed to get screwed up so I need to rebuild that too. It's busily compiling a bunch of system packages and will hopefully finish in the next day or so. A 600MHz machine takes awhile to compile GLIBC and GCC.

Well I'm sick of working on computers so I don't feel like working on my verilog homework. I think I'll go play some World of Warcraft.

Schedule

Quick post with my schedule:
M 1:20pm-2:10pm, 2:25PM-3:14PM
T 9:55AM-10:45AM, 11:00AM-12:15PM, 1:00PM-2:15PM
W 1:20PM-2:10PM, 2:25PM-4:55PM
R 9:55AM-10:45AM, 11:00AM-12:15PM, 1:00PM-2:15PM
F 1:20PM-2:10PM

I'm registered for classes in Theory of Computation, Hardware Design using Hardware Description languages specificially Verilog, Testing and Testable Design of Digital Systems, An Intro Antropology course, and a course called Black Heroes and Villians in Film. I plan to drop one of these classes but haven't decided between Anthro or the Heros and villians one. Antro seems easy but boring, the other class sounds more interesting and the prof is great. I only have to write several essays (big deal for an engr. student who hasn't written a paper since freshman year).

Whomami?

Well just in case anyone takes the time to read this I thought I'd mention a bit about myself. The name's Jonathon and I'm a Computer Engineering and Sciences student at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. When I'm not busy with schoolwork I like to read, play games, listen to music and GASP! spend time doing stuff on the computer.


[Music on Winamp: Beethoven's Ninth Symphony 4th Movement AKA Ode to Joy]

First POST!

W00t first post!

Just kidding well it is the first post but not in the slashdot "I'm a loser who needs attention sense." I decided to oneup my friend Nate with a much cooler blog than his. That's about it for now. I'll post some more as I think about it.