Happy New Years!

Well, here we are again folks.  Another year is in the books.  This year has been pretty wild, if I do say so myself.  You can't deny that 2012 has had it's up's and down's, the impending Apocalypse that was much hyped; but didn't happen.  The Presidential Election (depending on which way you voted, was either a happy moment or a not so happy moment).  And the tragic acts that were committed in Aurora, CO and Newtown, CT. On top of all of the happening in the news we had...

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Happy Thanksgiving!

This year has been a wild one so far hasn't it.  With all of the build up to the elections, the results of the elections, and the resulting news of corporate layoffs that seem to slowly be spreading through large businesses that have been around all of my life.  Yet, as our folks here at home are starting to see tough times in a lot of areas, we still have our military servicemen and women overseas doing their jobs too.  Let us be in prayer for all of those in need, those fighting...

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Finally! I made an Android App!!

Ok, so I know it's a small accomplishment but tonight I made my first Android app!  I haven't programmed anything since 2003, so I'm relearning all over again.  Using help from YouTube (Checkout Lecture Snippets on YouTube).  He has some pretty awesome videos on his channel. Basically, it is one screen with some basic text, a button, and an empty text box.  When the button is clicked, the text box is filled with a canned message.  Like I said, it isn't much but it's a...

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Samsung and the Galaxy S4??

It's unofficially-official, that Samsung is expected to unveil the next in it's line of Galaxy phones in February 2013.  Is this Samsung's way of trying to sucker punch Apple.  Within recent weeks Samsung has gotten into heaps of hurt with Apple of their intentional copying of the iPhone design (which they admitted too by the way).  And only mere days after Apple releases the iPhone 5, Samsung basically teases us with their new phone. I know these manufacturers like to stay ahead...

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Android App: Box for Android

This week our Android App Pick of the Week is Box!  I'm sure you have heard of Box before.  Commonly referred to as Box.com it is a sweet service that allows you to store your data and files online or "in the cloud".  Cloud backup and online file storage has turned into big business these days.  As devices become even more mobile than ever before, so do we.  People are always on the go.  And a lot of us need access to certain files while we are out and about in life's...

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Ubuntu 11.04 Nearing It's "End of Life"

Well, it's that time again.  Another Operating System is nearing it's end of life.  And nope, I'm not talking about the April 2013 Doomsday for Windows XP users.  This time it is Ubuntu 11.04 "Natty Narwhal".  For those are are unfamiliar with the "Natty" it was the first time user's saw the Unity Desktop.  From that day forward Canonical would either have people who loved Unity or those who didn't care at all for it.  Some of us use it and have become somewhat...

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A Week in Guild Wars 2

As I mentioned a week ago, I finally made the leap from Guild Wars to Guild Wars 2.  I have also been able to log in to the game and play some almost everyday (with the exception of Monday, that day sucked).  And I have some initial thoughts on my time spent in the game thus far.  My stats as of this writing is a level 16 Necromancer with a focus on minions (build 1) and a focus on AoE attacks (build2).  Let me say first hand, I absolutely love this game. Now read on and find...

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Remembering September 11th, 2001

Today marks the 11th Anniversary of the attacks on September 11th, 2001.  I had the privilege today of riding by the place I was at when I first heard of the attacks in New York.  I was walking into my Trigonometry class at our local community college.  Today just about lunch time, I found myself in my daily travels sitting at an intersection in front of the college campus where I attended.  And it was bitter sweet to see all of the students coming and going about...

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"The Cloud" + Gaming = Can it work?

So this afternoon I read a story concerning a new development in "Cloud Gaming".  Yep, that's right "Cloud Gaming".  If you don't know exactly what that is, let me briefly explain.  A "Cloud Gaming Service" has a bunch of servers that they have their games installed on.  Much like user's stream movies via Netflix, a cloud gaming provider's servers would run the gaming locally on the server side and stream the video output from the game through the internet (aka "The Cloud")...

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Apple vs Samsung = $1 Billion Bruise for Samsung

Before jumping into this, let me first and foremost say that I love my Samsung Galaxy S2.  It is an amazing device, and probably the best phone I have ever owned (and yes, I have used Apple products before).  If you have read any of my posts, you'll know that I am a proponent for Android (mostly because it will built ontop of Linux).  And yes, I will admit that there are striking resemblances between my Galaxy S2 and my wife's Apple iPhone 4S (mostly in terms of interface design). If...

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Now We Know Why Martians Are So Mad...

So today at lunch I was catching up on some news feeds on my phone.  And I happened by an article from CBS News entitled: "NASA crosses fingers that Mars rover won't find water".  And this caught my attention.  From a very young age, I have always been intrigued by space and the concept of space travel/exploration.  Which opened the gateway to my love of science fiction.  And now that a lot of science fiction is becoming less "fiction" and more science,...

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Guild Wars 2: Eager Anticipation

So last night my wife and I went on an adventure in our area trying to find the retail copy of Guild Wars 2.  And I was rather surprised that it was pretty difficult to find.  Since the games launch I have found the retail box version of the game at both of our local Walmarts, our local Best Buy, and both of our local Gamestop stores.  However, last night I looked up our local Gamestop stores online (which showed neither had in store stock available - which I know is sometimes not...

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Guildies, Daleks, Labor Day Weekend, Oh My!

I know, I know...It's been quite a while. I hope everyone has been doing fine. It is by no chance that I am making my first post after somewhat of a hiatus on this very evening. After all with this past week being a huge week in tech, gaming, and nerdism alike; how could I possibly stay away?  Since my last post we have seen all sorts of craziness pop up on the interwebs. Aside from all the political jargon us Americans are having to put up with on Facebook and the general media, we have...

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Must Watch: "Tether"

This afternoon I stumbled upon an awesome video on YouTube entitled: "Tether".  Which is an emerging web series.  According to another video by made the creators of "Tether", this is the second shot at this particular series.  And I have to say, I think they nailed it.  For a web series, it looks to have a lot of promise. The guys behind "Tether" call themselves CorridorDigital.  And judging by this retake on "Tether" (the original version is called "Tether: First Snow"...

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Effects of Tech: Assimilated As An Introvert

Today while I was eating lunch, I took a moment to glance around the restaurant and I noticed something that felt kind of concerning.  Out of the few people that were sitting scattered across the room, all of us were eating and staring at our cell phones.  A guy in the far corner must have been watching a video clip of something hilarious that caused the rest of us to wonder what he was cackling about.  Another guy sat with his head pointed strait down at the table probably...

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HP Is Certifying Ubuntu on their Proliant Server Hardware

Mr. Mark Shuttleworth announced that HP will start certifying Ubuntu 12.04 LTS on it's Proliant Server product line.  What does this mean for customer's who are using Proliant hardware?  It means that HP will no longer invalidate a product warranty because you slap Ubuntu on it's storage as opposed to the standard Windows Server Operating System. If you are familiar with Linux, you will know that Ubuntu is a great server operating system and it's demand and use is constantly...

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The Amazing Spider-Man

Admittedly, I wasn't exactly excited to hear that yet another Spidey movie was in the works.  Personally, I grew up with the Spider-Man that could organically created his own webbing and all of the classic baddies from Spidey's world.  However, after seeing one of the latest trailers to drop.  I can actually say I am looking forward to this take. The cast looks amazing and we get a bad guy that hasn't been done on film yet.  Instead of a complete reboot where we see another...

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App Review: Dark Legends by SpaceTime Studios

Last week we mentioned that SpaceTime Studios has rolled out their newest title in the line of their "Legends" mobile games.  The significant point to be made with this game is that this marks the first time an MMO has been simultaneously released for both Mobile Devices and the Desktop Computer.  Pretty cool! If you are familiar with SpaceTime Studio's other games (Star Legends and Pocket Legends) you kind of know what to expect as far as character design is concerned.  But...

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Dark Legends is Out!

For all of you mobile gamers out there, a new title has hit the web from the likes of SpaceTime Studios.  That's right, they are the great folks behind the much loved "Pocket Legends" and the newer "Star Legends" titles.  Their newest title is called "Dark Legends".  And after having some hands-on time last night with the game, I can say it is definitely a lot grittier than their two previous games. Here is the deal, you play a newly sired vampire in a gothic/urban city setting...

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Guild Wars 2 up for PreOrder Now!

This week was a big week especially for gamers!  Not quite sure what I am hinting at?  Let me expound, this week pre-sales started for the much anticipated Guild Wars 2!  This game has been a long time in the making and ArenaNet has been teasing those of us who cut our teeth on the first Guild Wars with screens and videos and even beta testing for some (but unfortunately no beta testing for me).  So how much is it? What do you get for preordering? Is there a Collector's Edition?...

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New Web Project!

Hey everybody, I'm sorry for the lack of posts as of late.  But I have been very busy trying to get our latest web project off the ground which is being included into our growing network of online resources.  And it looks like it is ready to roll!  Be sure to checkout SlimTechie!  Over at SlimTechie we will try to bring fitness tips, progress reports, encouragement, help from social media (like YouTube), and reviews for apps and web services that you can use to help get into...

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Getting the Word Out: The Amazing Power of the Web

This is a befitting post, seeing as how it has been a while since a new post has gone up here on the site. Years ago now (it feels like); we started seeing buzzwords like: "Web 2.0", "Dynamic Content", "User Created", etc.  And I heard several interviews and read several stories on tech reports/commentators saying the internet would eventually gravitate towards a more friendly space for user created content.  And then sites like YouTube popped up.  Even being what some considered...

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Launching New Weekly Video Series!

Later today we will be launching a new weekly video series entitled: "TechieSmarts Tech ToolBox"!  And it is exactly as it sounds!  I receive emails all the time asking for recommendations for tools, software, etc.  Some people ask what I prefer to use for certain circumstances or computer issues.  So what better way to answer that question, than to just discuss it? So with the following goals in mind: #1- Offer reliable and valid information pertaining to various pieces of...

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Manually Setup a Dual Boot with Ubuntu & Windows 7

This video is a response to some questions I have recently received concerning setting up a dual boot system.  I have covered this topic in two other videos/blog posts.  However, both of those videos approached this goal by two different methods as does this video.  Previously we setup our dual boot with 'Wubi' and by using the 'Side-by-Side Install' method.  But what happens if you are using an older Ubuntu Live CD or a different Linux Distro entirely?  Those options may...

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How to Burn A Live Linux CD

I have recently received a batch of emails asking the same question: "I've downloaded the Linux .ISO file, now what do I do?".  So in response to this question, I have made a video stepping through the process of using ImgBurn to make a ready-to-go Live Linux CD with your Operating System of choice.  And then testing it to make sure it boots up. There are numerous burning programs out there that can accomplish what we are trying to do in this video.  However, I have personally been...

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