Norwood Highlights

Jerious Norwood should be a sleeper on anyone's NFL fantasy team. With the departure of Duckett and his performance in preseason, I think Norwood will get plenty of opportunities to provide you with 100+ yds of total offense and at least one TD on average.

Dell Latitude Video Quality Issues - Revisited

OK, so I posted the other day that there were some video quality (really crispness with fonts) issues in the Dell Latitudes. OK, that is true. However, when I wrote the post, I implied re-imaging was the only and best solution. Really, the best solution was pointed out on the Dell Community Forums, which btw is great resource. It can be solved by a simple change in the registry. The change is a simple one.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main
UseHR= dword:00000001

The full steps can be found at Microsoft's Help and Support site. Now, I thought this was a Dell erroneous setting. This is where I was mistaken. Big thanks to Neil at Round Rock at the Dell HQ for pointing out to me via email that most manufacturers turn this registry setting on, and it is an issue with Windows 2000 and XP. He actually even pointed me to an app Dell has that can help users out with the scaling issues without touching the registry. It can be located here.

Talk about service... I was really meaning that all of the Latitudes I was using recently were having this issue, which was the only minor complaint. Personally, I have bought more than my fair share of Latitudes in the last couple of years. So far, I have had hardware issues with about 5 out of approximately 1000 in 5 years. But, all items were fixed within 24 hours. Not too shabby of a record... I guess here is my long-winded point. Dell (and all other manufacturers) should turn the setting on to fix this glitch with Windows XP systems before shipping. Because from what I have seen from other educators and non-techies, they don't have a clue why things don't "appear" crisp. They think it is a flaw in the computer's display. I never knew something was wrong until one of them pointed it out to me. Good thing was thanks to the Dell forum, the fix was found in under 30 minutes.

Interesting WebAdmin tool

Here is a not yet released tool that may be of interest to some web admins. It looks like it will help pinpoint what portions of your pages on your Web site are accessed frequently.

http://www.crazyegg.com/

Dell Laptop Battery Recall

I am sure most of you have heard the explosive news by now. But, if you havent, Dell is in the midst of a battery recall. If you personally own a Dell laptop or your school does, follow this link, http://segatech.us/archives/1465, to read about how you can check if you have an offending battery. BTW, please check it. These batteries dont just go bad... they can potentially explode.

Rolling Rock is Dead...

One of my favorite American beverages was Rolling Rock made by Latrobe Brewing Co. Definitely a favorite back in the day at U of M... The St. Louis A-B boys have bought them out and are closing the plant in Penn. Sad day... some times, or most times, mergers are not good things... Here is an article outlining the event.

Game of the Year

By now, this should be the worst kept secret around. But, Rasterwerks has produced a Quake-like game entirely written in Director. The most amazing thing about it is the deathmatch component, and the fact the environment is all based on coordinates and not a 3D-model. One thing to note is that it seems to work better in Internet Explorer. Check it out. Here is a screenshot as well.

Del.icio.us : game rasterwerks director deathmatch

The Dirty Coast

Here is a link to some cats in Nola doing their thing with some pretty cool Ts. Too bad we don't have some industrious MS Gulf Coastian doing the same thing and kicking some of the change to a relief fund.

http://www.dirtycoast.com/home.php

Del.icio.us : t-shirts design shopping nola

Dell Latitude Video Quality Issues

For those of you who have gotten Latitudes in the last 2 years in the D series, you may have noticed that the video quality/sharpness left a lot to be desired, regardless of the type of video card. Well, I finally found somebody that pointed out it is a registry issue turned on by Dell. This further supports a credo that BigJim and I both share in common... wipe all Dell computers and reinstall to ensure optimum performance. Anyway, here is the link to the simple registry fix. And yes, I have used the fix on a D610 and D510, and it works.

Mid-Week Matinee

So Jackson and I are going to the mid-week matinee to see Barnyard. I do have to say I am a little worried after seeing the reviews. He watched Ant Bully the day before, which I hear is excellent. And apparently it was to him, because he was willing to see it again instead of Barnyard. You have to think for small kids with their 30s memories that a redo in movieland by a 4-year old is no small feat for a movie to pull off. I think it is no coincidence that Tom Hanks is on the list of filmmakers after seeing his effort in Polar Express.

Red Beans and Rice

Longing for the days growing up in South Mississippi and hanging out in the Big Easy as a kid (my birthplace), I ran across an old post by Danno at Nola Cuisine for RB & Rice. So, we figured lets give it a shot. I know weird... heat index 105+... But, I remember doing that eating lunch on Thursdays in a restaurant on Jackson right off the square in Oxford all the time hooking up with the dish. Anyway... outstanding... here is the link to the post at Nola. And here is his picture to get you there.

Katrina Revisited

It had been awhile since I have been down to either work/help after the Katrina visit to the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Let me tell you folks... If you think things are better for most, you would be mistaken. It is the understatement of the century to say that Hurricane Katrina was the disaster of the modern era. Things are getting better down there but it is all relative. Casinos are back, but homes are not. The beach is back, but campers are present. I think you get the drift. The only 2 places that had rooms available in a number you could count on your fingers were the Palace Casino in Biloxi and Best Western in Slidell. Man, to see it again... to grow up in the area... it really tears you apart. Here a couple of pics taken with my cellphone to get the point across.

Free Software - WinRAR

WinRAR is giving out free download of their WinRAR 3.51 software in celebration of the software's acheivements and longetivity. Go here to get it.