Teen Tech

What does every teen do? Go to school. And what does every teen use to wake up? Either a radio alarm that plays anything you want as long as its static, or a loud, obnoxious BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ until you throw it out the window. How can you save money on broken alarm clocks which can add up after a while? Use your computer to play your favorite song at the time you need to wake up. Who would have thought of that? You’ve got a computer in your room that is turned on 24/7, so it’s available, and you’ve also got an alarm that is on 24/7 that is annoying. Throw the alarm out the window once and for all and use your computer.

I’ve split this guide into two portions. The first is for all of you Windows users out there, and the second part is for all of you Linux users out there.

Windows

Windows is quite simple to get set up as a fully working alarm clock. All you need is your favorite music playing software. I prefer to use WinAmp because it’s small, and has a few other options that you can use (streaming to other computers to wake up the whole house for instance ), but you can use others, such as iTunes. Next, you need a playlist file, which we will use a .M3U file, which is basically just a list of songs, but it also plays with iTunes (I have not tested it with Windows Media Player). This file is just a simple text file that lists the songs you want played (everything must be in the same “folder” for this to work without jumping through too many hoops). Finally, you need your volume up. Not loud enough that it wakes up the people three doors down (no pun intended) from you, but lound enough to get you awake and into your usual routine.

Step 1:
Collect your music. It doesn’t matter where you get it from, as long as whatever music player your using can play it (as a rule of thumb, just stick with MP3s).

Step 2:
Build your .M3U playlist file. Using “Notepad” (under “Accessories” in the start menu), it creates a pure text file without any formatting that Microsoft Word or Wordpad will put in it.

Here’s the look of the .M3U file:

#EXTM3U
song1.mp3
song2.mp3
song3.mp3
and so on.mp3

Just save this as “alarm.m3u” to wherever your music is saved.

Step 3:
Create a “batch” file that will start your playlist. A batch file is simple in this respect. Run a single command that opens and starts playing your playlist automatically. Save this as “alarm.bat” in the same place as your playlist file.

Here’s what your batch file should look like:

start alarm.m3u

And that’s it for the file portion of the alarm clock.

Step 4:
Create a “Scheduled Task” to start the batch file at the desired time. Under the “Control Panel”, there is an “applet” called “Scheduled Tasks.” Create a new task, and where it asks for the program to run “Browse” to the “alarm.bat” file that we created earlier. Set the time, and you have yourself a custom alarm clock.

Note:
If you set your music player to shuffle, it won’t start with the same song every morning.

Linux

The Linux part of this guide will focus on using Ubuntu Linux (7.10 Gutsy Gibbon) using Rhythmbox as the media player.

Step 1:
In rhythm box, drag and drop your selected music in, and that takes care of the playlist portion of the alarm.

Step 2:
Set up two (2) “cron” jobs. Cron is a program that runs in the background that checks once a minute to see if any events need to be executed. The first one opens Rhythmbox and the second one actually plays the music. If you try to do them at the same time, it won’t work because it will try to play before the player is finished opening. So, during the scheduling portion, set the open event before the play one and you won’t run into any issues.

Here’s what the two Cron events look like:
1:
export DISPLAY=:0 && rhythmbox-client
2:
export DISPLAY=:0 && rhythmbox-client –play

To set these up, start up “Kcron” found under “Applications” -> “System Tools”. Create and schedule the events in that order, and you now have a working alarm clock that runs Linux.

I hope this helps you in your quest for a more alarming alarm clock. If you have questions, just post them here.

OK, so yesterday, I got two copies of the same game, and neither of them worked because of scratches and such. So, I’m going to go through some things that worked and some that didn’t. First thing first, a little anatomy of the CD. NONE of the data is stored on the plastic of the disc, or the part that gets scratched. All of the data is stored on an extremely thin piece of aluminum sandwiched between the plastic that gets scratched, and a piece of acrylic under the layer. If you scratch the bottom of a disc, it can still be technically used.  So, with that, what does a scratch do? A scratch simply screws with how the CD or DVD drive’s laser bounces off of the back of the label where the disc is. If the laser beam is reflected back at an improper angle, the drive can not read the disc. So, if you buffer out the scratches, it can then read the disc like usual. So, I tried a few things on test discs (discs that were obsolete that I never used, or were broken).

• Drywall Sandpaper. Yes, I tried drywall sandpaper. It smooths Drywall, why not a disc? Well, something about drywall being made of Gypsom and not Plastic may have something to do with it.
• Frying Pan. I thought that maybe if I heated up the plastic enough, the scratches would smooth over. All that I succeeded in doing was warping the test disc.
• Professional Scratch Remover. First off, this stuff is messy, and doesn’t work as well as most people think. It was crap. I didn’t like it, and I don’t suggest it unless as a last resort.
• Car Wax. I found a thing of Turtle Wax in the basement. It worked wonders on the test disc, and then I took it to the Halo 2 Disc that refused to work, and it worked perfectly. It takes a little elbow grease and a soft applicator cloth, otherwise, it will cause more scratches, but it worked the best. If you deal with a lot of scratched discs, I suggest a thing of Car Wax. Works wonders.

Well, these are the ways that I attempted to get scratches out of discs. I wouldn’t suggest the first two, but the last two are OK to use.

SO, let’s face it. Not everyone has a ton of money. That in itself can make keeping up to date with the latest technology a real issue. So how can you stay with the new stuff? It is so expensive. First and foremost, don’t get the new thing right when it comes out. Patience is a virtue. Waiting a while will often reward you with a lower cost sometimes a lot lower. Another great thing is to know people. Some people just get rid of old computers and what not when they get new stuff. I recently just got a laptop for free when some people where getting a new one which is in quite good condition. I have gotten a total of three computers for free from people who are replacing their hardware. For my last tip, look for rebates. Most stores online have mail in rebates which can be somewhat of a pain to remember to mail in, but if you do, you will be happy to receive a portion of what you paid. With these tips, you won’t be disappointed in what you can find.

Prevention

The easiest way to clear your computer of viruses is by simply never getting any.  How is this done?  This is nearly impossible to do, except to never get on the internet which is simply not an option. One way that I prevent viruses is to not use Internet Explorer.  Some people will swear by Internet Explorer (”IE”), but statistically, it is still the most targeted web browser by viruses, and with its rather insecure “Add-Ins”, it poses more flaws.  Instead, I use Firefox (www.firefox.com).  I have NEVER gotten any viruses through this browser.  It is free, which is another very strong point.  If you do plan on using Internet Explorer, upgrade to IE 7 which is by far the best version.  Another way to prevent viruses is to not use programs which have been known to be a virus magnet.  Some of these include Kazaa, which is a music downloading tool, LimeWire, which is a Peer-to-Peer file transfer utility which breaks nearly all copyright laws, and any other program that is from a shady web site (like one that the address bar is 3 pages long of junk).  Lastly, run Windows Update often, and use antivirus software.  There are many great packages out there that are cheap to free.  I use AVGFree, and Ad-Aware which are both free and can catch most viruses.  Good Luck.

OK, My dad finally got cable internet.  It’s great.  There are a couple of problems that go along with it.  First, the upload speed is just a little bit faster than dialup, so uploads aren’t that great.  Secondly, the viruses like to come in a little faster than at the slower speeds.  So, that brings me to the topic of this post.  How can you protect your computer from pesky viruses.  There are many varieties of virus protection software out there, but lets face it, the people that create these viruses will always come up with new ways to get around the virus scanners.  So, with that, there is no possible way of fully protecting yourself from viruses except to completely disconnect your computer from the internet and to not accept files that people bring in on CDs, Flash Drives and Floppy Disks.  The first virus removal tool that I use is Ad-Aware created by Lavasoft.  This software is easy to use and can find most anything.  The next tool that I use is AVG Free.  It thoroughly searches EVERYTHING for viruses, trojans, and worms.  The only downside is that it can take a while and slows your computer down to a crawl while doing the search, so it is best to schedule your scans at night when the computer is not in use.  Well, those two are the tools that I use most often.  With these, make sure that they are up to date and working, and if it comes across a virus that can’t be removed, do a google search for the virus, and you can usually find a specialized cleaner for your kind of virus by Symantec or some other company that specializes in computer security.

Ok, so lets face it, some teens don’t have a whole lot of money to play video games from. Here’s a few tips on getting what you want (or need :)) without spending a lot of unnecessary money.

1. “Used” doesn’t mean broken. You can buy used games for sometimes half the money as the New version. Many stores offer warranties on used games, so if it doesn’t work take it back. Also, some stores will let you try out the game first. One Game Frenzy actually set up a Nintendo GameCube for my brother so that he could try a game out before he bought it.
2. Shop around. Don’t just grab the first version of the game you come across. Where a store specialized in games might have it, some supercenter like Wal-Mart may have it cheaper. There are many websites out there that offer games cheaper than in the stores with reasonable shipping.
3. If you’re unsure about a game, look for a free trial for it. World of Warcraft (”WoW”) has trials available for 3$ at Wal-Mart. Try it before you buy it.
4. Look for rebates. The base PSP (Play Station Portable) costs 199$ new. The used version costed 179$. I found a 20$ rebate on a new PSP which brought the price down the the price of the used system. This goes in with shopping around. Look for rebates online and most places advertise them.
5. Trade games in. Many stores will trade in games either for store credit or new games. If there’s some game that’s been in the closet for two years and hasn’t been played, trade it in. Get something for it.
6. Rent. This is a great way to try a game out before you buy. If you don’t like it then you’ve only spent a fraction of the full cost, and if you do like it, buy it.

While some of these may seem obvious, but you’d be surprised how many people miss out on some really great deals, or don’t like what they bought. By following these simple steps, you’d be surprised what you can find.