Right now I have my Xbox 360 and PC networked together, with the PC's dial-up connection shared.  It allows me to connect to Xbox Live so I can download patches and gamerpics, and upload my achievements.  I've attempted to use it for downloading small arcade games and other DLC, but the connection keeps dropping out.  If I want anything bigger than 10MB, I have to take my 360 over to my sister's house.

Once, I thought I was being clever by just taking my hard drive over there instead of my whole 360.  I slapped the hard drive on Matt's console and downloaded a few songs for Rock Band.  When I put the drive back on my 360, the songs didn't show up.  Turns out that the content contains DRM that links it to the console that was used to download it.  The only way I can play it on my console is if I'm online and logged into my Xbox Live account, which means I'd have the phone line tied up the whole time.

Lucky for me, Microsoft just released a content license transfer tool.  Now, you can associate all the content you've downloaded under your GamerTag with one console.  However, you're only allowed to use it once per year.

I stabbed myself in the hand, in that web-like area between the thumb and index finger, with a flathead screwdriver.

Most TV shows have wrapped up the 2007-2008 season by now. Several of those were cut short by the writers strike. If you'll recall, I started out the season with the intent of picking up ten new shows. I continued with several of them, but stopped watching Bionic Woman, Moonlight, New Amsterdam, and Flash Gordon. Apparently a lot of other people did also, because those shows were canceled. I was disappointed about the cancellations of Journeyman and Carpoolers, a show that wasn't on my original list.

I went 3 for 4 on my cancellation predictions. The only one I was wrong about is Life, which turned out to be my favorite new show of the season. The other shows that will be returning are Reaper, Pushing Daises, Chuck, and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

While swinging a 3-pound sledgehammer to loosen some wooden stakes that were stuck in the ground, I completely missed the stake I was aiming for and struck my bare ankle.  It hurt like hell for a few minutes,  but everything is fine now, minus some bruising and swelling.

As you may recall, I had some issues with my cable several months back and was so disgusted with the service that I had it canceled all together.  It was tough in the first few weeks, but since then I've actually coped with the lack of cable surprisingly well.  I pick up all the local channels (in HD) with an antenna, and I download a few cable shows off the internet.

I'm moving out this weekend, and have most of my stuff packed up right now.  As I was getting some stuff together in the bedroom, I decided to plug in the small TV I have in there to see what was on.  I had already packed up the antenna, so the reception wasn't very clear.  Looking behind my dresser, I found a length of coax that had been abandoned after I ditched my cable.  It was still attached to the wall jack.  I attached the other end to my TV to see if it would give a slight improvement in reception.  To my surpise, the picture was incredibly clear.  I started flipping through the channels, each one as clear as the next, when I noticed some channels showing up that I can't get over the air.

I have free cable!  I guess the cable guy must have messed up the wiring when he was performing the installation for my new neighbors, and unknowingly supplied me with cable.  Who knows how long I had this and didn't even realize it.  I can't even enjoy it because I'm leaving tomorrow.  I may be even more upset over this than I am about getting laid off.

I've been messing around with my wireless router lately, flashing it with DD-WRT, and doing some research on wireless networks in general.  I've always used WPA encryption on my router because I knew it was more secure than WEP.  What I didn't realize is just how vulnerable WEP is.

Most of the packets transferred between a client and AP contain an
initialization vector (IV).  By capturing enough of these IVs, it is possible to crack WEP encryption in a matter of minutes.  Being in the IT "bidness", I had to try this out to myself.

I could set up WEP on my router and attempt to crack it myself, but there are several WEP encrypted APs in my neighborhood just asking to be cracked.  Using Aircrack-ng, I was able to obtain my neighbor's key in about five minutes.  Again, I'm only doing this out of professional curiosity.

Twenty-seven years ago today, Back Roads was tops at the box office, Dallas was dominating the television airwaves, REO Speedwagon's Keep On Loving You was the number one song in the nation, and a large, ugly baby was born.

Approximatley every four years I've changed web browsers. When my family first go the internet back in 1996, we used Netscape Navigator because that's what our ISP supplied us with. Sometime duing my first year of college, I made the switch to Internet Explorer. I think Eric may have talked me into it. I jumped ship once again when Firefox started gaining popularity.

Two weeks ago, Firefox began crashing on me. I was forced to use Internet Explorer. I don't hate IE. I have to use it at work, and I've grown to like it. And IE7Pro adds some nice features. But I still prefer Firefox. I decided to give Firefox 3 Beta 3 a shot, but some of the changes they've made are annoying. Hopefully the final product won't be so disappointing.

Last week I started using Opera, and it is quickly becoming my browser of choice. The last time I tried Opera (not counting the Internet Channel on my Wii), you either had to buy it or use an ad-supported version. Now it's totally free, thanks to Google. Opera is light and fast, everything I liked about Firefox in the early days. It isn't without its problems though. Most notably is a lack of support for Yahoo Mail Beta.

Right now I'm using all three browsers equally. The decision on which browser gets me through to 2012 is up in the air at this point.

Scout takes a break from eating snow to pose for the camera.