Jason

The Error

I’m not a huge fan of Games For Windows Live, though thank you to Microsoft for trying to merge their gaming into one place.  When I tried to start the game I received the following error.

“Games For Windows Live Failed To Initialize”

Oh error message, thanks for the symptom.   That’s real helpful.  So I took to the Internet to find out, fearless adventurer that I am.  (No kobolds were harmed in the solving of this problem.)

I ran across this post that fixed the issue.  If you’re lazy and don’t want to click the link here’s the gist of it.

Games For Windows Live Failed To Initialize – Section 8

This is an issue with the executable file protection aspect of Comodo Personal Firewall.  Oddly, in my case, I have Comodo’s “Defense+” feature disabled but it was still biting me.  Take note: even if you have it disabled this will still affect you.  One more time for those who don’t like to read: EVEN WITH COMODO DISABLED YOU WILL STILL HAVE THIS PROBLEM. Okay, I feel better now…

Here’s how we fix this problem:

EVEN WITH COMODO DISABLED YOU WILL STILL HAVE THIS PROBLEM

1. Open Comodo and click on the Defense+ Tab
2. Click on “Defense+ Settings”
3. Change to the “Execution Control Settings” Tab
4. Click the “Exclusions” button
5. Add the these two files “<Steam Directory>\Steamapps\common\section 8 prejudice\s9.exe” and “<Steam Directory>\Steamapps\common\section 8 prejudice\binaries\win32\s9-win32-F.exe”
6. Apply those and click “Okay” until you’re back to the main menu and then close Comodo’s settings panel

EVEN WITH COMODO DISABLED YOU WILL STILL HAVE THIS PROBLEM
I do feel better this time.  You’ve been warned.

You should be good-to-go. If you run across any issues drop me a line in the comments.

Jason

Justified on FX

If you haven’t checked out FX Networks’ Justified, you should pick up Season 1 on DVD, catch Season 2 however you can and then weep with joy that Season 3 has already been announced.

Timothy Olyphant stars as Raylan Givens, a US Marshall who has been reassigned by the Marshall’s Service back to his home state after a questionable, but possibly justified, shooting.

Life in Kentucky is complicated; his ex-wife has married the man she left him for, his estranged father is a borderline criminal, and an old flame has just killed the brother of one of the friends of his youth.

It’s a complicated tale that twists and turns throughout Seasons 1 and 2.  Olyphant is superbly accompanied by Joelle Carter, Natalie Zea and Walton Goggins, who play excellent roles that fit them well.  Walton Goggins is exceptional as his old friend Boyd who is more complex as the show develops.  He really shines at the end of Season 1 and throughout Season 2.

Justified is gritty, realistic (for the most part) and well-delivered.  Actions have repercussions and this isn’t your run-of-the-mill police drama, lines get crossed, for better or for worse.

If you are looking for a deep show with developed characters and back story, this show will hold you at gunpoint until the curtain falls.

Jason

Google recently announced that you can port your current number to Google Voice for $20.  It was released to a select group of users and as of today, January 25th, 2011, to everyone.

I won’t be one of the people porting to Google Voice.  I like having my old cellphone number BE my number.  My close friends and family have it and it’s my primary texting device.  I have an iPhone, and yes, there’s a Google Voice app that I could use, but I like just using my Messaging button and not opening Google Voice on my phone.

Secondly, I don’t want to have to get a new number on my cell.  I can change my Google Voice number in the future, for $10.  If I move, I can just change my number.  It’s cheaper than the $20 porting cost.

Yes, I could port my number and get the same features, but I like the flexibility.  Everyone knows it is my cell.  I give my GV number to everyone else.   That gives me the ability to decide who I really want to talk to on my cell and forward calls to my Skype number or drop them to voicemail.

Google Voice is a great tool.  I really recommend using it for anyone who uses Gmail and has multiple phones they want to use.  It’s a great “central contact” number for managing your communications.

Jason

For those who don’t know, I have been following a primal/paleo-diet for the past several months, using the 80/20 rule to keep track of what I eat. Six out of seven days I’m very paleo, minus milk products. I don’t eat refined grains (corn is a GRAIN, people) and very few starches. I get most of my calories from protein, leafy vegetables and fats. Conventional wisdom alludes that saturated fats cause heart disease but there’s no study that proves it. Saturated fats have been a staple of the human diet for hundreds of thousands of years. Grains, barely 10,000 years. I’m going to bet that my genetic heritage is geared towards digestion of fat.

Would you believe that eating primarily fat as my source of energy, an adequate amount of protein, say .4g per pound of lean muscle mass, and keeping carbohydrates under 50g per day, with green vegetables, has not only improved my cholesterol, but i’ve also lost inches on the waist, gut, hips and thighs while at the same time maintaining (and increasing) muscle mass?

Anyways, I digress.

Unbeknown to me, “enriched” products, like flour are treated with Chlorine Dioxide which, when introduced to protein chains, creates alloxan. Alloxan is used in rats to create Type I diabetes, or Diabetes Mellitus.

There have been studies perform to monitor the effect of Alloxan in humans and none are conclusive. I’d rather not chance it. Which works out for me since I don’t eat grains, including flour.

You should check out “The 4-Hour Body” for more additional information.

The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman

Jason

Configure PS3 Media Server Tutorial from Jason Likert on Vimeo.

Jason

PS3 Media Server will work for most people out-of-the box without any additional software.   If you plan on playing many different types of video and music files you’ll need to install a few other pieces of software.  For simplicity’s sake we’re going to assume you’re running Windows, though the installation process is similar on all supported operating systems (OSX, Linux, Windows).

Getting Started

To get started lets grab the software we will need.

• PS3 Media Installer
• AviSynth 2.5 (For frame-serving and video post-production, non-graphical utility used by PMS)
• Combined Community Codec Pack – CCCP (Codec Pack for DirectShow, MKV, DIVX, Xvid, H.264, many more)
• Video LAN Player (VLC) (can be used for video streaming)
• Latest version of Java Runtime

Installation

Install Java first (or update your current version) and then install PS3 Media Server, AviSynth, CCCP and VLC.  You can use all of the defaults or customize the installation directories to where they work for you.  I run PS3 Media Server from one partition and my codec packs and other software are installed on a separate physical disk.  I do not recommend running several codec packs, such as K-lite with CCCP as you could inadvertently be using different versions of stable codecs but still run across strange transcoding and muxing errors.

What Is Transcoding

Transcoding is digital-to-digital re-coding from one format to another, such as converting MKV to Divx.  Transcoding with PMS can be done on the fly while playing a video.  Transcoding can be processor intensive and I only recommend transcoding video if you have at minimum a dual-core processor.  Transcoding with PMS tends to lower overall quality on the desired video.

What Is Muxing

Muxing, better known as MUltipleXING, is combining separate files into one file for viewing.  In PMS, AC3 Audio and a video file can be combined, playing hi-definition audio with your video.  PMS utilizes mencoder and TSMuxer for multiplexing audio with video.  In my own experience with PMS, TSMuxer tends to present a smoother muxing process than mencoder with less stutter and buffering over 803.11N wireless networks.  G networks theoretically support it as well, but I’ve noticed severe degradation and stuttering when attempting to mux audio with a hi-def video (such as Blu Ray Disc rips) over less than an N-wireless network.

Java?

PS3 Media Server utilizes Java to run.  When you launch PS3 Media Server it is “wrapped” in Java, basically the PMS executable launches a file that calls Java with many different parameters.  If you view the running processes under Task Manager you’ll notice Java running and utilizing a large amount of RAM, up to 600+ MB.

Configuring PS3 Media Server

When you open PS3 Media Server after installing it, PMS.exe, you’ll experience a tabbed interface with a “Save,” “Restart HTTP Server,” and “Quit” buttons at the top, like so.

We’re primarily going to be concerned with the General Configuration, Navigation/Share Settings, and Transcoding Settings tabs.  These are the tabs that you’ll use the most.  The other tabs are more for your information, reviewing logs, the readme, FAQs, help and additional information.

Let’s start with the General Configuration Tab.

You’ll want to choose your language and decide if you want to run PMS as a service that automatically starts.  I’ve chosen that option so that it’s always running, especially if I restart my system.  I want it to always start with the computer.

If you have multiple network cards you’ll want to choose the interface you want PMS to use for the network.  I also force my IP Address on my computer to be the active IP address, to ensure that my Playstation can always access my system.  I use a static address on my system so that it doesn’t change.  You should also consider using the HTTP Engine V2 (which is the default) and selecting “Prevent OS from sleeping while streaming” so that your streaming isn’t interrupted by your computer going to sleep for not detecting any use.

The Navigation/Share Settings tab is where you configure your library that you want to watch or listen to.  PMS will also stream audio files (non-DRM), including your DRM-free iTunes files.

I select Thumbnails generation so I can see a video thumbnail of the show I’m playing, as well as generate DVD ISO thumbnails.  ”Thumbnail seeking position” defines at what second in the video will it generate a thumbnail and can be configured for any time period in the video.

PMS provides the functionality to change muxing and transcoding engines “on-the-fly” from your playback device, so I don’t select “Hide #Video Settings# folder and “Hide #Transcode# Folder.”  Play with these options as much as you wish until you find what makes you happy.

The bottom, under “Shared Folder” is where you’ll add the folders where your media resides at.  I have a hierarchy of folders I store my media at with it separated by TV shows, Movies, etc. You can add as many folders as you wish and switch between them easily on your playback device.

Now lets take a look at the Transcoding Settings tab, Common Transcoding settings options.

If you have more RAM (I’ve 4GB in my PS3 Media Server system) bump the buffer size up to 600 MB.  That’s the maximum it will use.  I’m hoping in the future that they allow more than this as a 32-bit application can support up to 3.2+ GB, I’d prefer to double the current maximum that the application supports.

PMS will detect how many cores you have, stick with what it finds.  If it doesn’t detect 2 or more cores, and you have a dual or quad core system, bump it up to the correct number.

I utilize 2 channel audio, as I am not running an audio/video receiver capable of surround sound.  If you do, select the audio output you desire that your system supports.  Select the Ac3 bit-rate as well.  If you’re using DTS audio or FLAC (lossless audio) feel free to convert it to LPCM if you have an HDMI receiver.

If you have AC3 audio you can also select to have it remux’d to work with your system.

Under video quality you can change the maximum bandwidth used.  This works well if you’re on a G wireless network or a 10Mb/s wired connection.  Hi-def audio and video are bandwidth intensive.  If you are brave at heart, you can define several transcoding variables, such as keyint, vqscale and vqmin to customize the quality of the video and help save on bandwidth.

Under transcoding you can also disable subtitles and skip or force transcoding on different file types.

On the left, you can re-order the way in which PMS will attempt to use transcoding, muxing and streaming engines.  Use the blue UP and DOWN arrows to find an order that works best for you.  The order you see is what I currently use.  If you find that you’re seeing choppy video, you can change transcoding and muxing options from the playback device #Transcode# folder you see while using PMS or reorder it in the configuration and restarting PS3 Media Server.

One caveat, if you decided to run PS3 Media Server as a service, you will have to use the Services Manager utility to restart PMS and the PMS.exe file to configure it.  The “Restart HTTP Server” button will not work when you run PMS as a service.  To open services manager you can click on Start > Run and type “services.msc” without quotes.  Hit enter.  It will open up the Services Manager program.  Find “PS3 Media Server,” select it, right-click on it and choose “Restart.”  It is more tedious but you won’t need to do that very often.

All of the configuration options in PS3 Media Server can also be adjusted by editing the PMS.conf file that is in the same directory as PMS.exe, where you installed PS3 Media Server.   All of the options in PMS can be configured via the text file and the text file is used by PS3 Media Server when you start it to ensure that it is configured properly.  If you edit the text file and restart PMS the UI will reflect any changes.

To end Part 2, here’s my configuration file.   Leave a comment if you have any questions!

thumbnails = true
alternativeffmpegpath = E:\\Program Files (x86)\\PS3 Media Server\\win32\\dvrms\\ffmpeg_MPGMUX.exe
mencoder_ass = true
engines = mencoder,tsmuxer,tsmuxeraudio,ffmpegaudio,mplayeraudio,mencoderwebvideo,mplayervideodump,vlcvideo,mplayerwebaudio,vlcaudio,ffmpegdvrmsremux,rawthumbs
folders = I:\\PS3_media,G:\\Archived TV And Movies
maxvideobuffer = 600
audiochannels = 2
network_interface = eth5
usecache = true
thumbnail_seek_pos = 3
tsmuxer_mux_all_audiotracks = false
skiploopfilter = false
mencoder_fontconfig = true
mencoder_disablesubs = true
mencoder_mt = true
avisynth_convertfps = true
mencoder_mux_compatible = false
codec_spec_script =
mencoder_encode = keyint=1:vqscale=1:vqmin=1
dvd_isos_thumbnails = true
ffmpeg = -threads 6 -g 1 -qscale 1 -qmin 2
mencoder_remux_ac3 = true
embed_dts_in_pcm = false
itunes = true
audiobitrate = 384
port = 5001
hostname = 192.168.0.197

Jason

I “graduated” out of Bronze I and Bronze II dancing.  Most of my fellow-studio dancers did the same or checked-out of Social and Bronze I level dancing.  I’m very proud of their dedication and passion for dancing and they want to continue to do it like I do.

There were a lot of phenomenal routines done by the other students.  I danced a contemporary routine with my instructor to John Mayer’s “Dreaming With A Broken Heart.”

Next year I’ll hopefully graduate from Bronze III and Bronze IV for my dances.  Then I can work on moving onto the silver syllabus.

It was a fun event a lot of great people, dancing, music and routines.  I can’t wait to do it next year!

Jason

It wasn’t their fault, apparently I also had a busted motor mount so my engine wasn’t secure on the right side.  So the final tally was just under $700 for the slave cylinder to be replaced, the rear seal replaced and the motor mount replacement.  Of course it was recommended that I have the rotor rotated and my clutch replaced as there was a “little wear” on the clutch gears, but in my mind, a “little wear” on an 18 year old Jeep that has 110K miles on it is definitely acceptable so I passed on that.

This spring I am considering driving up to my parents, taking the engine out at my dads, replacing the clutch and putting a new gasket on the oil pan.  I’d rather drive up there for a day, spend a week at their house and do the repairs that way myself instead of spending $60-80/hr to have it done at a shop.

Jason

1.  My new 320GB Playstation 3 with Move bundle is on it’s way.  Quite honestly, I never watch TV (but oddly enough pay the cable company for it) and used my old PS3 for streaming media from my PC.  Anything I don’t DVR, I just find via the ‘Net and stream.  For anyone who wants to do the same thing, I recommend “PS3 Media Server.”  PMS (heh not the un-fun female variety) will convert videos on the fly with a bit of buffering.  Anyways, the PS3 bundle comes with the Move package and Sports Champion (which looks sorta like Wii Sports just way better visually).  It will be fun to try out.

2.  My 1992 Jeep Wrangler YJ is finally going into the garage for a much needed clutch repair.  It was a minor leak until the last few months and I have kept putting off getting it repaired.  Let’s hope it keeps at the low-low pricey of $550, as the engine needs removed to replace the questionable slave clutch cylinder.  If it was an external slave cylinder I’d have yanked it out myself and dropped a new one in.  Unfortunately, I won’t get it back until Wednesday, hopefully before my Salsa/Ballroom Bronze check-out (for certification) at 5:30PM.

Jason