Jake Ludington's Digital Lifestyle

Virtual Villagers 4 The Tree of Life Walkthrough Tips Tricks and Cheats

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 11:06:18 -0800

Last Day of Work continues to hit it out of the park with their Virtual Villagers series. In the 4th installment, The Tree of Life, we find the village chief concerned about the state of life on the island. He sends a group of islanders on a quest to save the Isle of Isola. Of course, if you're going to help the islanders, you may need some help along the way, which is where this guide comes in handy. Read on for tips and tricks for solving the puzzles on the island and be sure to download Virtual Villagers 4 to get you started.

Sprint 4G Overdrive Review

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 08:00:59 -0800

The type of work I do requires me to have an internet connection available all the time. As a result, I've tested a variety of broadband data plans for the past 5 years. My latest foray into broadband is the Sprint Overdrive 4G service. When it operates in 4G mode, Sprint Overdrive is a dramatic improvement over the 3G offerings from Verizon, Sprint, ATT and T-Mobile. While 4G is priced the same as comparable 3G services and falls back to 3G when no 4G is available, there are a number of things about the 4G data plan that could be better.

Transfer videos from camcorder via Bluetooth?

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:36:43 -0800

"Is it possible to capture the videos from video camera to PC with Bluetooth?"

There are some camcorder models with Bluetooth support for listening to camcorder audio, capturing audio via a Bluetooth microphone, or remote control of camcorder features. Currently none of the camcorders support transferring video from the camcorder to a computer. One of the reasons Bluetooth may not be a viable option is Bluetooth isn't an ideal method for transferring large files. There are a number of highly portable camcorders that support transfer via wifi, which would accomplish the same thing as transferring via Bluetooth.

Can I put songs from Lala.com on my iPod?

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 13:17:52 -0800

"Now that Apple owns lala.com can I transfer songs on lala.com to iTunes and then to my iPod?"

In order to put songs from your Lala.com account into iTunes and on your iPod, you need a Lala.com account. You also need to have purchased the download version of the song. Any song you can download as an MP3 from Lala can be added to your iPod. Songs that are web songs, cannot be added to iTunes or copied to your iPod. You do need some additional software to make it easy.

Why cant I see my toolbar on Internet Explorer?

Sun, 21 Feb 2010 10:58:20 -0800

"Why cant I see my tool bar on Internet Explorer?"

There are a bunch of reasons that toolbars don't show up in Internet Explorer, so it might be hard to diagnose why your toolbar went away. Instead I will focus on how you can get it back. I'm going to walk through how to do this with Internet Explorer 8, because if you are using IE, you should really be using version 8 for all kinds of security reasons. If you're on an older version of IE, upgrade before you go any further. Once you're using IE 8, follow the steps to recovering your toolbar.

What Format Do I Need to Play Songs on my Xbox 360?

Sun, 21 Feb 2010 10:33:44 -0800

"What format do songs have to be in to play them on my Xbox 360 if I use a storage device?"

Microsoft has put a great deal of effort into reliably supporting many audio and video formats on the Xbox 360. For the most part, as long as the songs were not purchased in a protected format from the iTunes Music Store, they will play on your Xbox 360. Whether the songs are stored on your Xbox 360 hard drive or on a drive connected by USB, the same formats will play. Depending on what type of song formats you are trying to play, you might need to take a few additional steps to make the files work.

How to Move Applications to a New Computer

Sun, 21 Feb 2010 10:17:10 -0800

"I'm buying a new computer and I don't want to reinstall all my applications on the new computer. Is there any way I can copy applications, software, and settings from my old computer to a new PC?"

One of the slowest parts of upgrading to a new computer is having to re-install software. There is one solution I recommend for moving applications to a new computer. While I have found a handful of situations where it won't work, in most cases every application on your old computer will be moved, including your preferences, and you'll be back up and running in no time.

Error 1316. A network error occurred

Sun, 14 Feb 2010 13:59:21 -0800

"You were a great help with the Error 2738. I almost got my software installed and hit error 1316. Help, any input would be great!"

Error 1316. A network error occurred while attempting to read from the file... is a frequent error message resulting from a previously failed Windows software install. If you hit this error, the easiest solution is to cleanup the mess left by the previous install before proceeding with a new install of the same software. Microsoft provides a solution to this problem for many software install failures in the form of the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility.

Evernote - Your personal digital memory

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 07:18:53 -0800

For all the gadgets and software I use, making notes is something I still do with pen and paper. When I think of something related to a project or an event, I scribble it down in a Moleskin notebook for later reference. That system works great until I either don't have my notebook handy or I need to look something up and can't remember when I wrote it down or how I filed it. As a result, I'm attempting to ween myself off of paper and into a digital notetaking solution. Evernote is one solution I tried the first time I attempted this, so it's the solution I'm returning to this time as well. It was me that failed the transition, not Evernote.

One reason I think I will succeed this time around is convenient access to my notes from either my computer or my Android phone (Evernote also has an iPhone app). Last time I tried Evernote, I didn't have a phone with apps. Beyond the Web interface, the phone apps are what really makes Evernote great. You can take a picture and send it to your Evernote account for future reference. You can upload files. You can simply jot down notes. All of the data becomes searchable for later retrieval. Using separate note categories and using tags to label your notes, finding the data later is a snap. While there is a pay version with more features, the free version of Evernote is excellent and will get you more organized more quickly.

Two new Bags for Apple iPad

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 20:44:58 -0800

Quickly following Apple's announcement of the new Apple iPad, my favorite Seattle-based computer bag company, Tom Bihn announced two iPad additions to their product line. Cache, a protective sleeve, is designed to safely store your iPad and protect it from damage as you carry it anywhere. Cache has the added advantage of being airport Checkpoint Friendly, which means you don't have to remove your iPad from the Cache when going through security screening.

For over-the-shoulder convenience, the Ristretto for iPad comes in 5 different color combinations with enough room for your iPad, along with a days worth of travel supplies for commuting to and from anywhere. If you don't have an iPad, the Ristretto would also make a great Netbook bag.

My Tom Bihn Brain Bag has traveled to China, Taiwan, and all over the US. It still holds up as well as the day I got it. To date it remains the best bag I've ever owned. As an added bonus, I could walk down the street from my Seattle office and say hello to the people who made it.

How do I Connect to Xbox Live using Wireless Connectivity?

Sat, 23 Jan 2010 11:39:46 -0800

"How do I connect to Xbox Live using wireless connectivity?"

To connect to Xbox Live using a wireless connection you need three equally important components to complete the process. You need a broadband connection like cable or DSL for high speed Internet access. You need a wireless router to accept the wireless connection from your Xbox 360. Finally, you need an Xbox Wireless Network Adapter from Microsoft. Additionally you do also need an Xbox Live account. After you have all the components, follow the steps below to setup your wireless connection to Xbox Live.

HP Data Vault Review

Sun, 03 Jan 2010 09:51:14 -0800

HP loaned me a Data Vault to try out in a small business setting. Data Vault is basically a HP MediaSmart server, re-envisioned as a backup solution for small businesses lacking the traditional client server configuration you might find at larger companies. Where HP MediaSmart focuses on making it easy for you to play music and movies, access photos, and backup files on your home network (all things Data Vault can also do), the primary focus of Data Vault is backing up files in a small office network.

The simplicity of setting up Data Vault for backups is both a blessing and a curse. You can literally configure any Windows computer for backups with the Data Vault in minutes, making it perfect for guaranteeing the ability to backup employee computers to prevent catastrophic data loss. If you occasionally work from home or travel, you can also configure remote access to the Data Vault, allowing you to recover files when you are away from the office. Simplicity also brought a bit of frustration on my part, because after configuring Data Vault I wanted it to do more.

2009 Year in Review

Sun, 03 Jan 2010 09:21:26 -0800

At the end of each year, I like to take a look at which articles were popular throughout the year to see if I can anticipate what kinds of questions might bubble up in the coming year. More often than not a new software release or some new feature will pop up that throws off any hope of anticipating where the majority of questions might come from, but occasionally I catch something ahead of the curve. For instance, when I answered some questions about the RMVB file format back in 2005, I had no idea that it would be one of the most popular video formats for the next four years. Interest in RMVB is currently starting to tail off, correlating directly with the shutting down of file sharing services like The Pirate Bay.

As I look through the top 100 most popular articles published in 2009, a common theme emerges. Articles about productivity related solutions, things like using email, calendars, and IP fax services appear to pepper the list. More specifically, there appears to be a strong interest in making Google products like Gmail work with traditional desktop solutions like Outlook. Some of these articles benefit from having the full 12 months of 2009 to gain traction, but the article at #8 in the list below was published in August, which tells me it attracted a higher percentage of attention.

I did take the liberty of removing one article from the top 10 list because it was related to a game that is no longer available and #10 on the list may have limited usefulness due to the fact that the Windows 7 beta period is over.

Without further ado, here are the 10 most popular articles published in 2009:

How to Play MKV Files

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 10:25:59 -0800

"I downloaded a movie and my computer won't play it. The file is a MKV. What is an MKV file and how do I play an MKV file?"

MKV is the Matroska Multimedia Container, which is a video container similar to AVI or MOV. MKV files can have many different kinds of video and audio file formats stored inside them, which makes having the correct software for playback a little tricky. The MKV format has recently become a very popular format for sharing movies because it works well with subtitles and also retains the quality of high definition movies. To play a MKV file, I recommend one player solution.

Will my USB headset work with my Xbox 360?

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 09:38:16 -0800

"I have a USB 2.0 Logitech headset. Will my USB headset work with an Xbox 360?"

The Xbox 360 console has specific requirements for any headset you want to use to communicate in games or when chatting via the Xbox Live Vision camera. The primary requirement is the headset must connect to the headset jack in your game controller. Since the controllers all use a 2.5mm audio input (similar to the jack found on many cell phones), using a USB 2.0 headset is simply not an option.

Does this mean you're stuck purchasing a headset from Microsoft?