Today, I was trying to reformat my hard drive. I wanted to store more of my files. In the middle of the reformat of “DATAFORTRESS II”, I decided to stop since it had already been 4 hours. Next thing I know, access is denied to my hard drive.

Reformatting the corrupted hard drive didn’t work. I still got the error of “drive does not have a recognizable file system” and “do you want to reformat it?” Yes, I would LOVE to reformat it, except the reformat isn’t working!

Angry, I tried one last thing — I went to the Disk Management utility. (Right-click My Computer, click Manage, find Disk Management under the Storage category.) The drive was showing the size of itself, its partitions, etc. To fix my hard drive I removed the drive letter by right-clicking on it, deleted the current partition by right-clicking it in the bottom pane, and clicked “Delete Volume” and created a new volume called “DATAFORTRESS II” — you can name it to whatever you want. Now I’m happy and safe with the 150GB of files I needed to store and a vault for future computer backups. The files on it were of course backed up as I was planning to reformat sometime soon, luckily.

If you cannot format your external hard drive, this technique should work 99.99% of the time. Unfortunately, you’ll lose all your data, but it’s worth saving the money of buying a new drive where you will have lost the data anyway. From this experience I have learned that the only fully reliable storage media is solid, unchangeable, and not influenced by magnets — things like CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs which from now on will be where my important files will be backed up onto.

Related posts:

1. What is the Internet, and How Does it Work? I am absolutely tired of people coming up to me...
2. Dontclick.it – A revolutionary way to navigate on computers Imagine a world where mice didn’t have buttons. Imagine the...
3. 7 ways to save your Windows 7 RC installation Oh no! Windows 7 RC, the free version of Windows...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

On June 7th, 2010, Apple revealed its brand-new iPhone at its annual worldwide developer conference. Looks familiar, right? It was the same iPhone picked up a few months ago by Gizmodo — only this time, it’s real, confirmed, and tested.

Style

First off, the new iPhone is very stylish. Many are bashing it’s rather angular look, but it’s actually not that bad.

The phone is 0.11 inches thinner than the 0.48-inch iPhone 3Gs being at an anorexic 0.37 inches, so those of you with tight pockets will really appreciate it. The phone is also narrower — 2.31 versus 2.44 inches. The weight of 4.8 ounces remains constant, but the size difference makes the iPhone 3Gs look like a bag phone. (not really, but you get the point.) After holding this sleek gadget, rounded corners may not as great of an enhancement at all.

The volume buttons are now separated, which I don’t really find too attractive. The face and back are covered in an oil-resistant glass, according to Apple. The aluminum edging doubles as the device’s three antennas.

Display

Thanks to the Retina display, everything you see and do on iPhone 4 looks amazing. Text in books, web pages, and email is crisp at any size. Images in movies and photos are stunning at almost any angle. That’s because the Retina display’s pixel density is so high, your eye is unable to distinguish individual pixels.

The new “Retina” display  – named for having more pixels than the human eye can see — packs 960 by 640 pixels into the screen — that’s four times the 3Gs and the highest on the market. These 326 pixels per inch were specially developed by Apple to be 78 micrometers each. The display uses a technique called IPS to provide a higher viewing angle than the 3Gs — the same technology used on the iPad. The phone has an 800:1 contrast ratio.

Sounds like the difference between a DVD and a Blu-ray disc. Same information, major difference.

Multitasking

Now you can run your favorite third-party apps — and switch between them instantly — without slowing down the performance of the foreground app or draining the battery unnecessarily.* This smarter approach to multitasking is available only on iPhone.

Finally, the critics are defeated with this new enhancement.

The Home button now leads to creates a little menu at the bottom of the screen while you’re in an app. It shrinks your current screen and lets you select an app from that menu. You then switch to that app and your old app’s session is stored, letting you go back to the app as you left it. For easier navigation, there are app folders, too.

You can also listen to audio from an app — Pandora users, meet heaven. You don’t have to stay in the app to listen to it, in other words. VoIP is also possible while using other apps. For Skype, you can call and go to your email at the same time — just like normal calling.

Apps can also be run in the background when doing something like uploading a picture — no more waiting around for your Facebook photo with slow wireless. Additionally, push notifications are still here.

5-Megapixel Camera with Flash

Never miss a photo opportunity. The 5-megapixel camera built into iPhone 4 captures amazingly detailed images. A built-in LED flash illuminates low-light scenes. And the 5x digital zoom gets you closer to the action. You can even shoot self-portraits with the front camera.

Finally, take those pictures in the dark with faster shutter speeds! With 5x digital zoom and 5 megapixels, this camera is almost as good as a point-and-shoot. Even better, you can take pictures of yourself for whatever reason.You can also focus by tapping on what you’d like to focus on instead of auto-focus. Plant in your way? Put it out of focus!

Other cool stuff

Video calling is possible with FaceTime — with both cameras. A top microphone is built into the new iPhone for noise-cancellation for better phone calls. iBooks will let you catch up on your favorite novels. Edit videos with iMovie. There’s one e-mail inbox for easier browsing. There’s just so much to love about this new iPhone.

A common misconception: there will be no 4G in this phone. First of all, AT&T doesn’t even have a network to handle it.

To get or not to get…

The new iPhone 4 will start from $199, the same price as where the old iPhone 3Gs started just the day before, with that 3Gs going down to $99 and the 3G being wiped off the market.

Most likely, I’m preordering it, as I need a serious upgrade from my three-year-old hunk-of-junk first generation iPhone with a crappy case. On June 15, you’ll be able to preorder from the official iPhone site. The party starts June 24 — you don’t want to be late. After all, there’s going to be huge lines, so I recommend the preorder greatly if you’re sure of purchasing this great hunk of metal.

And now we wait.

Related posts:

1. Apple iPad: My First Impressions Just recently, on January 27, Apple finally revealed their highly...
2. The FlyFire – MIT Robot Swarm could create 3D display arrays The FlyFire. An interactive three-dimensional display system initiated by the...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

The Flood of Noah is one of the most legendary stories in the Bible. The story instigates with the world being “corrupt in God’s sight” and “full of violence”. God tells a man named Noah to construct an ark for himself, his three sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives. He moreover instructs Noah to fetch two of “all living creatures”, male and female, and care for all of them. (Noah did not need to walk for the animals approached him.) “Noah did everything just as God commanded him.” (Gen. 6.22) After seven days, floodwaters arose onto the earth and wiped out all existing fauna and individuals not on the ark. For forty days and forty nights, it poured. The flood sustained for a hundred and fifty days. On the seventeenth day of the seventeenth month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.
(...)
Read the rest of Noah’s Ark: Miracle or Hoax? (1,639 words)

© simplyianm for Simply Ian..., 2010. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: bible, myth, noah's ark, story

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

It seems like it was just yesterday that Youtube had a new video player out. True — in late January the Youtube page was redesigned again. Today, April 28, Youtube unveiled its newest video player, taking a more streamlined approach to viewing videos.

The player makes many aesthetic changes to the current player.

The bottom “seek” bar is moved above the controls and can be hidden when the mouse is moved off of the video player. Volume changing is available when mousing over the volume button, also doubling as a mute button. The little resolution changer looks much more sleek now. Colors are also much brighter. Less attention is wasted on the seek bar since it fades out after the mouse is removed.

As you can see though, the bar takes up a little more space than the previous one.

The problem with this new design is that the seek bar is hard to hide. While it only takes a few seconds to hide it after moving the mouse off of the small player, in full screen, the seek bar cannot be hidden and is placed ON TOP OF the content. The bar does look sleek, but I think the older, more compact design works better.

Here’s an example video (shown above) of the new player in action. (Not all videos have been upgraded yet.)

Do you like this new design?

Related posts:

1. The iHome FastTrack Laser Mouse by LifeWorks There are many great computer mice on the market, but...
2. Pioneers of Jazz plays at Frisco Jazz Festival! If you didn’t know, I play the keyboard in my...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Normally, I love the Black Eyed Peas, them being my most played album on my iPod and all, but today, they gave probably the worst Black Eyed Peas performance EVER. By ever, I mean EVER.

Tonight, they sang “Rock that Body” to promote Idol Gives Back. It probably kept donors from donating, though.

See what I mean? Maybe apl.de.ap’s mic was lagged or Fergie’s mic was rigged. Yes, apl.de.ap was late almost every time. Maybe the sound guys didn’t adjust the system for an entire group of people. Nevertheless, the performance looked horrible on screen.

Or maybe they didn’t want to donate.

What do you think of this performance?

Related posts:

1. Pants on the Ground Pants on the ground Pants on the ground Lookin like...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

There are not many tutorials on this other than forum posts. The other day, I was searching for “PHP class add parameters” and nothing came up. It was after reading about how to use PHP class constructors that I was actually able to do this. Constructors define how your class is created and can also have parameters. In essence, they make your classes modifiable.
(...)
Read the rest of How to Add Parameters to Your PHP Class (Constructor Tutorial) (293 words)

© simplyianm for Simply Ian..., 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: class, php

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Most of us have heard of the pinky promise or pinky swear. To those of you who don’t know, you may be wondering, what is a pinky swear? Basically, it is the act of hooking pinky fingers together to seal a deal or promise. In some areas, people kiss the hand to seal the deal. It is also possible for the swear to go three ways, as shown on the right.
(...)
Read the rest of The Origin of the Pinky Promise/Pinky Swear (153 words)

© simplyianm for Simply Ian..., 2010. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: blood, cut, pinky, pinky swear, promise

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Today, I was being my typical advanced-PHP-ignorant self and was looking up “Creating PHP Classes With Dynamic Parameters“. I naturally went to the first result and what did I get? Some crap about Google Chrome being a “Morally Incompatible Browser”!

The page claims that Opera, Firefox, and IE are all morally compatible. It then has the nerve to say to “Please use a real browser”!

Why? Maybe because Google is so big already and is expanding to every market?

But why MSIE? That browser really sucks! Microsoft is also a huge comglomerate!

So how is it morally incompatible?

It’s kinda dumb to do this anyway on a blog because of the high market share of Google Chrome.

5ubliminal, please explain yourself.

I mean, really? That’s a neck.

Related posts:

1. What is a Browser? (A Simple Explanation) It is true that most people do not know what...
2. 7 Reasons why NOT to Use Internet Explorer “Internet Explorer is good enough.” “If I install another browser,...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Phoebe Russell may look like your average 6-year-old Californian girl, but she’s done something bigger than what many accomplish in a lifetime. She has started and is leading a movement that has inspired many and has already fed 120,000 people who cannot afford a decent meal. Phoebe started this massive project when she was five years old while on the way to school. (...)
Read the rest of Phoebe Russel: The Six-Year-Old Who Fed 120,000 (575 words)

© simplyianm for Simply Ian..., 2010. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: charity, donate, girl, inspirational, phoebe russel, young

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Yesterday, I was randomly browsing the internet when I came across an amazing 5200mm Canon lens. The lens apparently is the largest in existence, second only to telescopes. Wow.

From a Canon flyer:

This is the only ultra-telephoto lens in the world capable of taking photographs of objects 18 to 32 miles away (30km to 52kms away). Having a focal length of 5200mm, Canon Mirror Lens 5200mm can obtain one hundred times as large an object image as that of a 50mm lens.

For focusing this mounted or fixed lens on an extremely distant object, two aiming telescopes are set on the side of the lens barrel, and the entire lens is placed on a rigid stand which rotates smoothly. Minimizing the overall length had been a big problem in designing this lens. However, the Catadioptric system that is applied to the other two Canon mirror lenses (Canon 800mm f3.8 & 2000mm f11) has succeeded in reducing it down to one third of the nominal focal length. In general focal length and optical aberration increase with each other, however, our long and persistent research and development have succeeded in solving this problem. Canon mirror lens 5200mm composed of spherical main and secondary mirrors and a correction lens would assure you of clear images.

Here’s a video of the massive lens in action.

As you can see, it’s so huge that it even needs a stand. You can see that the videos it takes are incredibly far away. That’s not even the full range of the lens. According to the flyer, it can zoom in 18 -- 32 miles away!

Here’s an advertisement from around the time it was made.

An Old Canon 5200 Advertisement

Now, let’s think of practical applications.

You’re on a safari trip it the back of a pickup truck with this ginormous lens in your hands. Everyone around you thinks you look like you’re in the turret of a Halo Warthog about to shoot some game. But you are about to shoot some game. Pictures of game. Haha!

Imagine these on the back or top of your car. LOL!

Now this is one cannon. (No pun intended.)

Related posts:

1. 3.14 in the Mirror is Pie! While playing around with some new permanent markers I just...
2. The Maze Game This game is not for little kids. Why? It requires...
3. Redoing Frisco in Sim City 4 – Is it possible? Many of you know I’m from Frisco, etc. So for...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.