Migrated

Bye bye blogger!

You can find me at dan-oc.com

Currently only the blog is online, and at the moment it is a fiendish experience for IE users, so use any other browser and all will be dandy. (That is next on my list, although I think all IE users should burn in hell)


I wonder if my HTTP redirect works:

Nah it doesn't...

Man and Machine

Article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7325004.stm

A bit of a far-fetched article imho, saying by 2020 we will all become Cyborgs.
"Hello sir my name is Dan, and I am a Mac"
"Hello Dan, my name is John and I am a PC"


Although saying this I did see an extremely impressive, worrying and cruel video.
You can find it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSCLBG9KeX4

The video is titled 'Cyborg Insects' and if you don't fancy watching it, scientists have basically implanted some chips into some moths and by sending certain voltages to the insects brain, they can control their wings, and their flight. I find this absolutely incredible, but I bet the moths aren't so impressed, talk about voodoo.

If they are right, in the next decade HCI as we know it will be a totally different ball game.

ʇxǝʇ uʍop ǝpısdn ʎzɐɹɔ

lɯʇɥ˙dılɟ/ɯoɔ˙pɐɟʌǝɹ˙ʍʍʍ//:dʇʇɥ :ʇı op oʇ ʞuıl ǝɥʇ sı ǝɹǝɥ

˙sıɥʇ ǝʞıl sǝıɹʇuǝ ƃolq ʎɯ ɟo llɐ ʇsod plnoɥs ı ǝqʎɐɯ

˙ssǝnƃ ı ˙˙ƃuıʇsǝɹǝʇuı ǝɹoɯ ʇıq ɐ sƃuıɥʇ sǝʞɐɯ ʇı ʇnq ssǝlʇuıod ʎllɐʇoʇ sı ʇı

I wish I could use a pixel font!

I am creating my web portfolio right now and deciding on a few things, the main one being the font I am going to use for the body of my site. It is important as I am supposed to be an interaction designer, and if you can't navigate my website, nor read my text then I am not very good at my job!

I researched the browser default fonts and tested them out to see what I prefered. Here is my little experiment using the colours I wanted to use (but I will not be using white now). The black text is 12point and the white text 30point.




You know I would love the last font to be a default on browsers, but I am not blessed with this fortune, and I am certainly not going to force someone to download a font when they arrive here (nor am I going to force them to listen to some awful 'lift' music, click on any terms of acceptance or click on any mystery referral links), which are all as bad as each other in my opinion.

Anyway back on topic, I had to decide wether I was going to use a sans serif or a serif font. As an aesthetic point of view, I greatly prefer sans serif, but for readability serif is generally better.

If I had to pick a serif, I would most definately chose Georgia, as you can see from the image it is much easier to read, probably due to the kerning and width of the letters.

When using sans serif fonts I have always used Arial, but as you can see Verdana outshines it, the 12point text is much easier to read and generally looks a lot more attractive, but the 30point kerning leaves something to be desired. That can be fixed though. Trebuchet is -ok- it just doesn't feel as solid to be and has a sort of italic style to it.

As for Comic Sans I can only think of 1 word - monstrosity.

I chose between Georgia and Verdana, so I needed to check to see what I prefered in big blocks of text. Here is the experiment I did for that:

Result:
I though serif fonts were easier to read? I think Verdana is easier to read, although it could be because I am used to it. However that is my choice.

Although, I wish I could use a pixel font!

Just for a reference, here is the place I got the font from: http://www.dafont.com/visitor.font

The Way Of The Ninja

A game I have been playing on a lot this holiday has been N+. They have the original avaliable for free which you can get here.


It is so simple, and so fun. On the xbox version, you can play up to 4 players, most levels require collaboration, team work and a lot of patience. You can also create your own levels (which is probably the best bit) and play them with your friends, locally, or in a private match online.

Anyway enough about the game, I am actually blogging about this because of the style of graphics they use. I feel it is very similar to the style I have come to love, simple, 2D and block colours. They also use pixel fonts, which I also love.

It just makes designs really easy to read and understand.
Anyway here is the website: http://www.thewayoftheninja.org/

Easter Productiveness

Well I am attempting to keep myself busy, the last few days, I can admit I have just been getting drunk and playing on the xbox.

After just finishing help my girlfriend decorate her room, I got pulled into helping my dad sort out our monstrosity of a patio, so I have been mixing cement, smashing bricks and lugging around concrete tiles for the past couple of days, all this and the sky decides to throw ice cubes at us mid progress. Damn British weather.

Anyway our lecturer advised us on getting a portfolio going, and as I wanted to get an online presence, and get a new home for my blog as this one is all messy, I decided to redo my old template, as I had learnt quite a lot in the past projects this term. I can finally use PHP and MySQL, hurrah!

I also learnt putting a border around your sites makes them look a lot nicer.

Here is the front page I designed. I am pretty happy with it.




The 'random box' in the top left is under personal scruitiny. I wanted to put a stamp there, but it looks a bit silly. It just feels empty there. At the moment the random box will just be a random link to something I though was cool, but not cool enough to blog about.

I might put a 'this is not an advert' box there or a word of the day thing.

We shall see :)

Torrent TV

Article here: http://torrentfreak.com/bittorrent-on-tv-080321/#comment-316283


A company has created a set top box that incorporates a bit torrent client.

The box can get up to 1080i, and can support blu ray torrent playback.

The equivalent model actually costs $20 more than the Apple TV alternative, but due to the huge amount of content available, it is worth the difference.

I currently use my xbox to play content from an external HDD, but playing back HD content is a lot more complicated (as you can see from an earlier post on my blog), and this also supports Blu Ray.

Getting HD movies to play on xbox

Yesterday I was trying to play a 720p HD file (.mkv) on my xbox from the HDD, and it did not work. The xbox does not even register that the file is there. So after a bit of searching I found this:

Note: I did not write this myself, the person I got it from got it from the xbox scene site. It may save some time though:

Here is a quick and easy way to convert an MKV to an MP4 for the 360...

1. Using MKVextract demux the video and audio from your MKV file into 2 files. One .h264 file and one audio file.

2. Using whichever software you choose, convert the audio to MP4 (remember it has to be 2 channel AAC LC). This can be done with a number of different programs.... choose whichever one you are most familiar with (ie. meGUI, foobar2000 (with the proper plugins), etc.) (For foobar2000 you need the matroska addon, ac3 addon and DTS addon and the aac nero addon)

3. Using h264info change the level of the video (the .h264 file) to 4.1 (This will not re-encode the video so it will only take a few minutes to re-write). Make sure that the output filename is different than the input or it will fail.

4. Using MP4Box or YAMB(with MP4Box.exe) (to avoid command lines) remux the video and audio.

That's it! You are now ready to play the new file without suffering through a lengthy re-encoding process!

Remember that this only works if your video bitrate is already below the max of 10 Mbps (with resolutions of 1920x1080 and a framerate of 30fps).

Port Forwarding

Well I thought I would post this quickly.

I hope people do use port forwarding..

I use it for my P2P traffic and my XBox. It is also good to forward certain ports for particular online games on your PC, but I wont go into those.

All you need to do if find your IP:

start> run >cmd

type ipconfig /all

It should show your ip, it should be 192.168.x.x, for instance mine is 192.168.1.100
It should also show your gateway ip. This being your router, which again should be 192.168.x.x, usually being 192.168.(0-2).(0-2). Mine is 192.168.1.1. Write this down.


Go to your router by typing in your gateway ip. It should ask you user name and password, which is usually admin/admin or admin/1234 as default. Find where you can forward ports, and fill in your ip along with the ports you want to forward.

The ports depend on what you are forwarding.
For my P2P I use utorrent. It is very stable, light (uses a low amount of system resources) and it has some nice features. Go on your clients settings and find the port(s) it uses. For instance my port is 10005.

You can choose UDP/TCP or both. For the P2P just chose both.

Click save and you are done, your router should use those settings and your p2p traffic should be a lot faster.

For Xbox Live it states on certain games if you have set up your network properly. You should forward the following ports:

88 UDP
3074 TCP
3074 UDP

Also to find your Xbox's ip just go on network settings on the dashboard, then edit settings and it should show your Xbox's ip.

Just do the same as you did for the P2P, but change the ip accordingly. My Xbox is .101, my laptop is .100. Simple as pie.

Just a note, sometimes, say there is an extra person connected to your network, it will bump up the ip's so yours and the Xbox's might be .102 instead of .101. If this is the case then the forwarded ports aren't working on the right thing. You can use port triggering for this, which is exactly the same method as port forwarding, you just don't need to add an ip as it opens the port as soon as it recieves data. So if 10 of you use P2P in a house, you don't need to forward the port 10 times to each ip, you can just trigger that port, as long as you have all chosen to use the same port.

DNS Headache

Sporting an all mighty headache from last night, I got to configuring the router so it actually worked again.

I had a bit of a headache finding my ISP's DNS, seeing as they didn't even tell me what it was on the letter they sent with the ISP user/password on. Anyway I found this site: http://www.dnsserverlist.org/ which is a godsend.

I am listing the DNS's here just for personal reference. It might save someone else a headache too, you never know.

DNS Server List
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

Quick Fix for Tiscali DNS Servers - Change to Above three Servers.

Australia DNS Server List
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

QLD
144.140.70.29
144.140.71.15
144.140.70.16
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

Westnet (ADSL)
203.21.20.20
203.10.1.9
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Canada DNS Server List
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

Shaw Cable
64.59.144.16
64.59.144.17
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

Telus(BC)
154.11.128.129
154.11.128.150
154.11.128.1
154.11.128.2
154.11.128.130
209.53.4.150
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

China DNS Server List
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

I-Cable
(Hong Kong)
210.80.60.1
210.80.60.2
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Italy DNS Server List ( Italia lista server DNS )
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

Alice
212.216.112.112
212.216.172.62
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Malaysia DNS Server List
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

Schoolnet (ADSL)
202.75.44.18
203.106.3.171
202.75.44.20
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

Tmnet Streamyx (ADSL)
202.188.0.132
202.188.0.133
202.188.0.147
202.188.0.161
202.188.0.181
202.188.0.182
202.188.1.4
202.188.1.5
202.188.1.23
202.188.1.25
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mexico DNS Server List
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

Cablemas (Cable 128kbps)
69.44.143.245
200.79.192.3
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nederland DNS Server List
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

Hetnet
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153

Tiscali Replacemet for Browser errors
69.111.95.106
69.111.95.107
206.196.151.153

Planet Internet
195.121.1.34
195.121.1.66
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

New Zealand DNS Server List
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

Xtra (DSL)
202.27.158.40
202.27.156.72
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

Paradise (DSL)
203.96.152.4
203.96.152.12
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Portugal DNS Server List
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

Netvisão (Cable)
213.228.128.6
213.228.128.5
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153

TVTel
195.22.0.204
195.22.0.205
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sweden DNS Server List
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

Tele2
130.244.127.161
130.244.127.169
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

United Kingdom DNS Server List
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

AOL
205.188.146.145
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153

Blueyonder/Telewest (Cable)
193.38.113.3
194.177.157.4
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

BTInternet
194.73.73.172
194.73.73.173
194.72.9.44
194.72.9.38 (Cardiff, S.Wales)
194.72.9.39 (Cardiff, S.Wales)
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

Bulldog Broadband
Ns3.bulldogdsl.com . 83.146.21.5 (South)
Ns4.bulldogdsl.com . 83.146.21.6 (South)
Ns5.bulldogdsl.com . 212.158.248.5 (North)
Ns6.bulldogdsl.com . 212.158.248.6 (North)
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

Nildram (ADSL)
213.208.106.212
213.208.106.213
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

NTL (Cable) and Virgin.net (ADSL)
194.168.4.100
194.168.8.100
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153

Pipex (ADSL)
62.241.162.35
62.189.34.83
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

Silvermead (Satellite, DSL, ISDN)
62.55.96.226
62.55.96.109 (unchecked)
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

Telewest (Cable)
62.31.176.39
194.117.134.19
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153

Tiscali, Screaming.net, Worldonline, Lineone
212.74.112.66
212.74.112.67
212.74.114.129 (Cambridge)
212.74.114.193 (Cambridge)
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

Wanadoo UK (ADSL)
195.92.195.94
195.92.195.95
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

Zen Internet
Primary DNS: 212.23.8.1
Secondary DNS: 212.23.3.1
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
US DNS Server List

United States of America DNS Server List
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

Adelphia
67.21.13.4 Los Angeles, CA
67.21.13.2 Los Angeles, CA
24.48.217.226 Santa Monica, CA
24.48.217.227 Santa Monica, CA
68.168.1.42 Florida
68.168.1.46 Florida
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

Bellsouth Fast access DSL:
Georgia
205.152.37.23
205.152.37.24
205.152.37.25
205.152.144.24
205.152.144.25
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153

Charter Comms (Cable)
68.116.46.70
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

Comcast (pick the nearest!)

69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

Cox HSI (Cable)

69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

Cox.net

69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

Earthlink - seem to be shared by Cable and DSL users in several states. Georgia and Florida confirmed.

69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

209.86.63.217 (Cable) - Charlotte, NC
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

Harrisonville Telephone Company (HTC)
216.114.114.130 (Illinois)
216.114.114.132 (Illinois)
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

Horry Telephone Coop
66.153.128.98 (Horry County, South Carolina)
66.153.162.98 (Horry County, South Carolina)
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

ORSC Public Access DNS Nameservers (Anyone can use these, no matter what ISP)
199.166.24.253
199.166.27.253
199.166.28.10
199.166.29.3
199.166.31.3
195.117.6.25
204.57.55.100
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

Roadrunner (Cable)
24.25.195.1 (San Diego, CA)
24.25.195.2 (San Diego, CA)
24.25.195.3 (San Diego, CA)
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

SBC Yahoo DSL
206.13.31.13
206.13.28.60
206.13.31.5
206.13.28.31
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

Speakeasy (pick any two!)
66.93.87.2 (Washington state and Oregon)
216.231.41.2 (Washington DC - probably)
216.254.95.2 (NY, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania)
64.81.45.2 (Los Angeles, California)
64.81.111.2 (Denver, Colorado)
64.81.127.2 (Dallas, Texas)
64.81.79.2 (Sacramento, California)
64.81.159.2 (Baltimore and Washington DC)
66.92.64.2 (Boston, Massachusetts)
66.92.224.2 (Philadelphia)
66.92.159.2 (Washington DC)
216.27.175.2 (Atlanta, Georgia. Serves Florida too)
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

Sprintlink (nationwide)
204.117.214.10
199.2.252.10
204.97.212.10
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

TimeWarner
24.93.1.119 (Rochester, NY)
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

Unicom

69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107
216.104.64.5 (Grants Pass, OR)
216.104.72.5 (Portland, OR)

FrontierNet / Citlink / New North DNS addresses:

69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107
66.133.170.2 (Rochester, NY)
170.215.255.114 (Rochester, NY)
216.67.192.3 (Arizona)
207.173.225.3 (Arizona)
207.173.225.3 (California)
216.67.192.3 (California)
170.215.255.114 (New York (areas other than Rochester))
66.133.170.2 (New York (areas other than Rochester))
170.215.184.3 (West Virginia)
170.215.126.3 (West Virginia)
170.215.126.3 (Tennessee, Georgia)
170.215.184.3 (Tennessee, Georgia)
67.50.135.146 (Illinois)
66.133.191.35 (Illinois)
66.133.191.35 (Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota and Nebraska)
170.215.255.114 (Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota and Nebraska)

Verizon (Level3) -
4.2.2.1
4.2.2.2
4.2.2.3
4.2.2.4
4.2.2.5
4.2.2.6
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107

Wave Broadband
24.113.32.29
24.113.32.30
69.111.95.106
206.196.151.153
69.111.95.107