All Narfed Up photography and words by Bryan Villarin

I’m transferring btvillarin.com from RegisterFly to GoDaddy, as well as purchasing PhantomScream.com, AllNarfedUp.com, and BryanVillarin.com. I hope nothing goes wrong!

Update 9:41pm: The brunt of the trouble had to do with deactivating ProtectFly at RegisterFly, so GoDaddy could see my real email address rather than the protected black hole. Their website is slow, so I just had to click and wait.

Other than that, the three new domain names all propagated to my server within seconds of changing the nameservers - wow! Now, I just have to figure out what to do with them, right?

Last Thursday, I went with James to see a bunch of bands at the Taste of Chaos in the Long Beach Arena. I took pictures as best I could, and I tried to tag the ones I could recognize. With the distance from our seats to the stage, it’s probably pointless.

(see more distant photos)

The following played there: Evaline, Aiden, Chiodos, Saosin, Senses Fail, 30 Seconds to Mars, and The Used.

Awesome? You betcha! I didn’t know how bad the seats would be until I got them. Last time I was there, it was insane on the floor! James insists to just get general admission tickets next time. Okay…

On Saturday, I received the iRiver iFP-899 I won on eBay. I immediately messed around with it for two hours. I must’ve made 5 unpublished podcasts that day.

Initial thoughts

I like the size and shape. Since it’s triangular, the built-in mic can point at a certain direction for a more optimal positioning. The menus aren’t as simple as an iPod — there’s a learning curve with the click, long click, etc.

Recording

I’m trying to figure out optimal settings for the Line-In Record Volume. 40 might be the best when using my Griffin Lapel Mic. 30 might be good when recording a band practice [using the built-in mic] in the garage, and I set it as far away from the drums and amps as possible.

I think it sounds awesome compared to using my iPod + Griffin iTalk.

File management

I have to put up with iRiver Music Manager. (I haven’t found a freeware or open source alternative.) What I’m happy about is that I can drag files from iTunes onto it. What does that mean? I can setup a smart playlist in iTunes and drag the songs into the iRiver Music Manager window, rather than navigating through folders in Windows Explorer. Sweet!

I don’t like that any recordings I make don’t have timestamps. I figure if I can set the clock on the device, it should be able to keep track of that.

FM Radio

What can I say? If I ever get bored with my MP3s while I’m walking around with my iRiver, I’ll just switch to FM radio. The headphone cord is used as an antenna - it sounds fine. Recording radio works remarkably well.

Conclusion

I’m stoked! I haven’t tested it out in school yet, but tomorrow, I’ll record the lectures and see how they come out. Recording lectures is the main purpose for it, and secondary uses include sporadic podcasts, recording band practice, and if I can figure out the proper settings, maybe even recording live concerts.

Note: The latest iRiver Ulta Portable Player (T10 Series) don’t include the Line-In jack. That’s why I didn’t opt for those.

I briefly go over my current life activities and discuss potential podcast topics I created from a mind map. School, work, our band (Phantom Scream), and productivity (more specifically, GTD).

I edited the “ums” and “uhs” out - forgiveness if it doesn’t sound completely smooth.

Recording hardware: iRiver iFP-899, Griffin Lapel Mic

Time: 3:12

Download MP3 (2.2 MB)

Eric Mack posted about the upcoming Daylight Saving Time extension, how it’ll affect our current calendaring software, and some links to updates for popular software and devices: Palm, Windows Mobile, and Blackberry devices, and Windows and Mac operating systems.

I’ve installed the DST patch for my Palm Tungsten E and updated Windows XP with KB931836 (February 2007 cumulative time zone update for Microsoft Windows operating systems). It seems like I’m all set. What about you?

I just burned my first DVD, which now contains 10 various Xvid videos, as a multisession disc. (It’s a drama series.) The slight problem is that I have to go to the clunky Data CD Menu in my Philips DVP-642. Not too clean.

Can you point to inexpensive, free, or open source software that I can get to create a basic menu for the video files on the DVD?

James (Ume) and Bill signed up for volunteer work this Saturday (2/24/2007) with the Urban League of Los Angeles through Boost Mobile Rock Corps. I’ll be doing some sort of manual labor from 8:00am to 12:00pm.

What do we get in return? We’ll get a ticket to a concert (on March 30th) to see: Korn, The Game, +44, Rise Against, and Young Jeezy.

There’s more than one of these work days, so go to the Boost Mobile Rock Corps and look around if you want to help out and have a good time. See you out there!

Update 2/23/2007 @ 5:03pm: A nice lady just called me on my cell phone because my sidebar on the right says, “Call me!” Don’t call me about signing up - I don’t work for Boost Mobile Rock Corps. Just go to their website and follow the directions, m’kay? No worries!

Update 2/24/2007 @ 11am: My ankle has been hurting since yesterday. I’ve been having to take ibuprofen again after going three days without the need to. I’m gonna stay off my feet today. So annoying…

I just won an auction for an iRiver iFP-899 on eBay (link) — and I wasn’t at my computer. The ones that aren’t set with “Buy It Now” are selling for $100+ at the moment.

My two weapons:

1. UnWired Buyer (free)
2. Auction Sniper (first three snipes are free, add three more snipes per referral - more details)

A few days ago, I set a maximum bid within Auction Sniper. Today, I was on the way back from school when I got a text message notifying me that in five minutes, I’d be receiving a phone call from UnWired Buyer. I wasn’t planning on bidding in realtime, because Auction Sniper would do that for me within the last five seconds of the auction.

Listening to the bids being made in real-time, I chuckled and listened in anticipation for the final seconds. At the end, the voice said something to the effect that I won with a bid of $78. I hung up and giggled with glee for about a minute.

If you’re curious, I bought this device in hopes that it’ll record class lectures much better than my iPod + iTalk. Also, I might use it to start a podcast. Have I mentioned that before?

Last October, I bought some Power Strip Liberators from Cyberguys. Cool. Not cool? Mid-December, I emailed Cyberguys to opt out of the magazine catalog subscription because I’m don’t read paper catalogs. I’ve gotten two since my initial request. C’mon, figure it out!

Other than that, they reply to email very promptly and seem pretty nice. No sarcasm intended.

Update 11:48am: Apparently, I had duplicate entries in their database. It’s been fixed. I shouldn’t get anymore catalogs. Yay!

Andy invited some friends over to his house on Sunday night so we could celebrate Chinese New Year. Other than his cousin, Dave, and his mom, the rest of us weren’t Chinese. Pete’s blackanese, though. Good food, hotpot, and we had a blast. Thanks Choocher, Kelly, and Dave!