JeremyBlum.com

So, I’ve been keeping very during my winter break…Zach and I have been working hard on some needed updates for ultimatecomputers.net, and I’m trying to churn out a bunch of videos/get projects done/absolute craziness.

So anyways, UC.net has gotten a few new fun features.  First off, we started a Folding@Home team a few months ago, and I wanted people to be able to track out progress right on our website…so I wrote some nice little php scripts, worked a little magic, and churned out this simple Folding Page, that explains the project and queries the Standford University Server for our current standing in the ranks.

Next up, we’ve released the new “Featured Page“.  It is the new home of all official UltimateComputers content including projects, reviews, tutorials, and techbits episodes.  This allowed us to clear out the old “projects” section.  The projects, tutorials, and reviews section on the site will soon become home to user-submission portals, where registered users can share their work with the world.

Lastly (exhausted yet?), I released a new episode of TechBits today!  It covers the current cutting-edge processor architectures from AMD and Intel, and discusses what is to come from each CPU manufacturer.  Check it out below or watch in HD on youtube.

Another comic from xkcd.com…

This one is pretty much the story of my life…I learn so much more from random personal experimentation than from 90% of the garbage I “learn” in school.

I’m back at home for winter break now, so I of course had to go visit DeepNote!  There have been a bunch of new really tough songs released for GH3, so we figured we’d try playing them.  The video below speaks for itself, but basically, DeepNote destroyed them.  We also had it play Guitar Hero 4: World Tour.  It performed quite well, but will need some programming adjustments before it is as good at it as it is at Guitar Hero 3.

This is the first video I have filmed with my new Canon Vixia HF11 HD Camcorder.  The video below is in standard quality for the sake of your bandwidth, but go check it out in glorious HD on youtube to get the full effect.

This week, in my TechBits video blog, I take a look at the two competeing multi-videocard technoogies – crossfire from ATI, and SLI from Nvidia.  Check it out below, or watch it in HD at youtube.com.

We didn’t win!  In case you haven’t figured it out, I’m talking about the Parallax Propeller Design Competition that we entered the DeepNote Guitar Hero Bot into.  That can probably be attributed the fact that 15% of the score was based on the practicality of the project.  We probably got a 0% for that…  Oh well, we still got Special Recognition from Parallax and a place on their website.  You can go check out the other project entries here; there are some extremely well done entries.  Here is our humble little page on the Parallax Site.

In related news, I’ve released all the source code, schematics, parts lists, etc. to the DeepNote “Build Your Own” page.  We don’t have any plans to release a full tutorial on how to build a bot, but with the information provided it shouldn’t be too hard to manage.  In fact, you won’t even have to program the darn thing because we’ve provided the source code!

Parallax, the creator of the BasicStamp microcontroller that I used on my prosthetic prototype, and the propeller chip used in the DeepNote Guitar Hero Bot, has a section on their website where they feature winning projects that have been made using their products. They’ve decided to feature my project on their site! You can go check out the Parallax “Winner’s Circle” HERE.

PS.  We should also be hearing from Parallax sometime this week regarding the winners of the Propeller Design Contest that we entered DeepNote into.

I recorded this episode while I was at home for Thanksgiving.  Zach Lynn co-hosts with me as we discuss the proper settings to choose for your video games, and what they all mean.  Zach co-administers ultimatecomputers.net, worked on the DeepNote guitar hero bot, and runs Illusion Montages with me.

As of about a week ago, youtube has switched to a widescreen format and will even support HD streaming when you upload a video at 720p resolution.  To get in the spirit, I’ve unconverted this video so you can view it in HD!  Embedded below is both the standard definition version and the 720p HD version so you can see the difference. Enjoy!

I’ve just ordered a new 1080p camcorder and I will soon be filming everything in full HD quality.

Standard Definition

High Definition