Posted on May 14th, 2008 by James
The yearly arts show at my school was last night, and this was one of the trailers for it. Originally, this was shown during homeroom, and apparently people really liked it. Again, filmed on an XL-2 with built in audio. A few notes on the filming locations: I had no idea my school was such an epic sound stage. We have a series of hallways honeycombing all along the basement level, an old wood shop room and several empty rooms that are no longer used. This film was shot mostly in the art room (formerly part of the basement) and in the shop room. Next year, it’s a possibility we’ll use some of those hallways for more films. Huge props to Kelvin Rama for his extraordinary cinematography and editing skills. You can view the film on the Projects page.
Filed under: General Tech | No Comments »
Posted on March 22nd, 2008 by James
Any guitarist with a reasonably expensive or otherwise valued guitar will know that straplocks are a must. Unfortunately, these important items cost between $10 and $35 USD depending on where you buy them. Being a poor high school student who currently has no job, I couldn’t afford even the cheap $10 version. Read more »
Filed under: How-To | No Comments »
Posted on March 18th, 2008 by James
If anyone’s ever put a sticker or decal on a guitar/laptop/desk/anything, they’ll know what a pain in the rear it can be to take off. After you’ve torn your fingernails to shreds trying to take off the paper or plastic part on top, you’re still left with the residual paper, and worse yet, the leftover goo from the adhesive. Now sure, there are products like Goo Gone, but those cost about $5 US for an 8 oz. bottle. Not expensive at all….until you discover the substance at right. This simple fluid (found in lighters) is probably the best sticker residue remover I’ve ever used. Just dab a little bit onto the sticker, wait until it becomes transparent and wipe away. It’s also much cheaper than that goo-gone, coming in at $3 for a 12 oz bottle at my local drug store (though not necessarily for the bottle in the picture). Just a little general piece of information I figured I’d pass on to anyone who didn’t know it yet!
Filed under: How-To, Randomly Awesome | 1 Comment »
Posted on March 13th, 2008 by James
This is a wallpaper I’ve been tweaking and toying with quite a bit lately. I posted it to InterfaceLIFT too, but I figured I’d post it here just so more people can see it. I think that this one works best as a Customize theme background. Hope you all enjoy this one!
PS, if I get any requests or interest, I’ll give a tutorial on this.
Filed under: Uncategorized | No Comments »
Posted on January 13th, 2008 by James
I just used an image I took a while ago as an iPhone/iPod touch wallpaper. I’m currently using it, so I hope someone else enjoys it as well. The image is called “No Parking”
(320×480)
Filed under: Apple, Personal/Rant | 1 Comment »
Posted on January 8th, 2008 by James
For the serious security auditor, it’s important to be able to gauge how good a certain password may be. This first tool does exactly that. Step one is really to make sure that attacks from the inside would be difficult/impossible to carry out. This means making sure that all machines have good passwords. Ophcrack is my favorite tool for this phase of auditing. Read more »
Filed under: General Tech, How-To | No Comments »
Posted on January 4th, 2008 by James
Yes, yes, I know it’s been done to death, but the MacWorld predictions actually prompted some interesting discussion. We also have a new word of the day: “Functionability”, coined by our own Taylor Olson. Yes, it was very late, and we were both tired, so go easy on all the mistakes we made, mmkay? Listen to the end as well…a stupid idea I had that I just left at the end of the audio so you could all laugh at me. Enjoy!
Direct Download (17.5MB)
Filed under: Ten Minute Mac | 3 Comments »
Posted on January 3rd, 2008 by James
For Christmas this year, I was fortunate to receive some books on one of my favorite parts of science: physics. 
Eventually, I’ll review all the books, but I’ll start with the one I think would be of greatest interest to the most people. The name of the book is “Death By Black Hole” and it’s written by physicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson. Now before I get started, I want to say that this book is probably NOT for people who are uber-physics geeks. It takes the ideas behind some of the most groundbreaking discoveries in physics history and brings them down to a more manageable level for the average person.
Some of the more shocking things he reveals are how to measure the circumference of the earth using two sticks (no joke, this has been done for centuries), the timeline of discovering how small a speck we are in the galaxy and universe (possibly multiverse) and how long it takes for light and heat to leave the center of the sun (it’s MUCH longer than you think).
In all, anyone even remotely interested in physics (on a basic level, mind you) should pick up this book of interesting factoids about the world and universe we live in. If you want something technical, you won’t find it here, but if you want something interesting with excellent, captivating and easy to understand writing, look no further than “Death By Black Hole”
Filed under: Reviews | 5 Comments »
Posted on January 2nd, 2008 by James
Back when I started playing guitar, I really didn’t know what I was doing. I just wanted to learn how to play, so I went out and bought a cheap Fender Strat knockoff and a cheap amp. I’ve since quit using that amp, and I’ve even bought a new Les Paul guitar with hum-canceling pickups (humbuckers), but I still want to use my Strat-copy. It’s got great build quality, and it has a pretty comfortable neck too, so I don’t really want to do any body modifications. What I would like to do, however, is replace the bridge pickup. This thing is just so noisy it’s barely useable. Observe:
Single Coil
Humbucker
As you can see, the humbuckers are much quieter than the single coil pickup. At first, I thought I’d need to route a bigger hole in the guitar body for the humbucker, but I decided to take of the pickguard and actually see for myself:
It turns out that the route actually IS big enough for a humbucker. Now the only question is if it’s worth $40 to buy
one of these and solder it in. Is it worth the trouble for a guitar I don’t use a whole lot anymore? I’d like to be able to use both - one as a main instrument and one as a backup - but I’m sure my new Les Paul won’t go out on me. Thoughts?
Filed under: General Tech, Personal/Rant | 12 Comments »
Posted on January 2nd, 2008 by James
Well, well! 2007 is over, 2008 is upon us, and Erratum5 is ready for another year. I’ll just start by thanking all the readers for reading the blog, and even sticking around when there weren’t a whole lot of posts (still working on that, by the way). I figured I’d keep everyone interested with a little roadmap for the year:
- I will definitely have far fewer and much shorter breaks/hiatuses. I know I’ve promised that before, but I’m really going to try harder than ever this year.
- I’ll post more than just podcast episodes. I want to put some real content on the blog…you may find some of it interesting.
- I’ll be posting a wider variety of items. The blog has thus far been mostly about tech stuff (mostly Apple). While I’ll still post that, I’ll branch out into my other interests like photography, film and music (especially guitar-related subjects). Again, you might find something you like with the new content style, so don’t discount it as a rambling blog just yet.
- Video projects. I’ve wanted to do some, and now, if I can get together with a friend of mine, there might be a few that involve more than just me. Stay tuned
Well, I hope that’s something for everyone to look forward to in 2008. On another note, I’d like to know what you all plan for in ‘08. Drop a comment and tell everyone what you think!
Filed under: Site News | 3 Comments »
