Jenn Bostic "Jealous Of The Angels" (Official Video)

One of the more useful things you can do with a computer is to control another computer from a remote location. If you have never used a computer via a remote desktop session then you are probably not aware of the benefits. Imagine using an old junky laptop here to control that high-powered state-of-the-art PC over there. The laptop and PC can be in the same room or opposite hemispheres. All you really need is that ever-present internet connection and a job to do.

Of course there are limitations on what you can do in this scenario. You are not going to have much fun if you try to watch videos or play video games via this sort of connection but you will be able to leverage a minimal amount of resources to access all the computing power of that remote system. Your laptop (or any computer you have handy) will serve as the Keyboard, Mouse and Monitor to interface with whatever the remote system has to offer.

This is not meant to be a tutorial on Remote Desktop Computing; there are already countless resources for that information. I wanted to post this article to present a bit of information I found to be just a little too valuable to be as obscure as it turned out to be when I set about educating myself.

The reason for posting this is to describe the method I am using to connect to a Remote Desktop Session through an SSH Tunneled connection between two Linux machines. This information presumes that the Remote Desktop Server is running TigerVNC-Server and Xrdp or is otherwise able to accept remote desktop connections via the Local Area Network. The Remote Desktop Client (say laptop) must be able to connect to the remote server via an SSH connection. The Client should have xfreerdp installed.  Connecting two Linux computers via SSH should be within the basic skill-set of any Linux OS user and if you are using Linux and are not familiar with the terminal environment - trust me - you are missing out on the "Power" (as these instructions may suggest.)

[Please Continue Reading]

Come on along to the 500 World of Wheels Auto Show. There is something for everyone... Hot-rods and Customs, Classic and Imports. Anything on 2, 3 or 4 wheels. A 4 hour visit is condensed into 15 minutes. This is BlogDogIt YouTube Video Number Four.

Image stabilization provided courtesy of YouTube.

While editing this collection of clips I was simultaneously exploring archive.org for some appropriate high-energy music. There were skads of really excellent songs available; I settled on the following three selections:

• Gavica Band - Live, LA Rock Night
  
• Space Invaderz - Syntax
  
• Kimiko Ishizaka - Variatio 2 a 1 Clav.

I tell you what, my wife is so lucky at "being the eighth caller" to WISH-TV Channel 8 and winning prizes that the station should hire her just to make her ineligible [smiley:;)]

This latest prize package was 4 tickets to The World Of Wheels Autorama in Indianapolis. Today we cashed them in.

I decided this would be a good chance to blow the dust out of the sprockets of the video camera so I loaded in some fresh batteries and brought it along. I am glad I did too... You dont normally associate auto shows with "Action" but these dudes of the BMX Extreme Stunt Show brought it by the trailer load.

I collected a great many shots of some very cool cars but this section of the "clip haul" - shot from the bleachers - stands on it's own. I wanted to get this posted now while I edit the Auto Show stuff for release in the not too distant future.

Enjoy the show!

A while back I was needing to create a bunch of DVDs for personal distribution and remembered seeing a "life-hack" that described a method for folding a single sheet of 8-1/2" X 11" paper to hold a CD or DVD disk. A well known search-engine presented the following link that gave step-by-step instructions with some great pictures illustrating the steps: Via SnapHow.com.

 That was several months ago...

Today I once again needed to make up some more of those handy-dandy paper sleeves and - as before - I was intending to add some custom graphics to to the project. I ended up spending nearly 30 minutes just tracking down my custom made template file (for positioning the layout) so I would not have to resort to "reinventing the wheel."

No doubt I will be needing this information again, so I have decided to post the template and a "refresher course" slide presentation right here on BlogDogIt. Next time I will know exactly where to look. I normally work in CorelDRAW for this sort of designing so I am posting a CDR(10) file, I am also offering in Illustrator5 AI  format and in TIFF and PDF for good measure. 

I hope you find this resource as helpful as I know I will!

Download a layout template to suit your needs:
DVD-SleeveTemplate10.cdr [ 13 KB ]
DVD-SleeveTemplate5.ai [ 3 KB ]
DVD-SleeveTemplate.tif [ 574 KB ]
DVD-SleeveTemplate.pdf [ 2 KB ]

[tag:tips download diy computing educational utility]

While catching up on my blog reading I noticed I had been falling behind on all the latest from PJ Woodside on ThisOldBitchMakesHorrorFlicks. A recent post of hers titled "What Makes Scary" had me thinking about a theory I once studied involving "The Seven Basic Childhood Fears" and how they "play-into" the horror film genre. But then she asked for her readers to tell what has made them truly scared. After responding to her post with a tale from my own life I decided I would rework the reply into a post for BlogDogIt

~

You pose an interesting question PJ. What would be some of my scariest moments? What has happened in my life that has caused me to experience honest to goodness fear? ...

Being startled of things that happen “all of a sudden” and without warning is only natural and beyond my control. I think that is why my reaction – following such a start – is to find it humorous; that the gasping for air and the hair raising on the back of my neck only seems to be out of my control when in fact it is my subconscious “autopilot” doing its job. I worry about folks who were not jolted by that hand from the grave (at the end of Carrie.) They are lacking a basic mechanism for staying alive (as far as I’m concerned.)

The scariest moments in a persons life must truly come when their life is on the line. Thankfully as I reflect on my life there are not too many such times. There is however one incident that ranks as a genuine scary time...

In my younger days I was quite the spelunker – a big fan of cave exploring. Sometimes my party and I would become “misplaced” and that in itself was never so scary as it was inconvenient. Although there was one time that we had such a difficult time finding the exit that we exhausted every source of light except a candle and a Zippo lighter. Let me tell you that was certainly nerve-racking but pales when compared to the time that I found myself utterly stuck in a cave.

A pet turtle? When I heard talk of my grandson wanting a pet turtle my thoughts turned back to a time in my youth when I too kept a turtle. He lived in a small "turtle bowl" that had a built-in platform in its center. Under a goose-neck desk lamp that for turtle was Sun. As I recall the turtle was a very interesting pet and seemed to require far less care when compared to the hamsters and gerbils that some of my friends had in their homes. But the fact is, I am sure my turtle was not given the level of care that should have been afforded him and as a result he ended up paying with his life.

My childhood turtle was obviously just a hatch-ling - barely the diameter of a silver dollar. The turtle we found for my grandson was easily five time that size. Of course it was only after acquiring the new turtle that we realized the small reptile tank - previous home to a friendly little cricket frog named Hedy Hopper - would not be sufficient to provide a comfortable existence for the latest member of the family, "Crush."

The internet - not surprisingly - is a wealth of information (and likely miss-information) about the care, feeding, health and habitat of "Sliders" (the only available species of turtle for sale at our local pet shop.) This article is presented here in an effort to [1. Add something to the miss-information side of things] and [B. Encourage anyone desiring to keep a turtle as a pet to do their homework and prepare a suitable home prior to bringing the little guy home.]

Below is a slide show showing the steps we have taken in an effort to give Crush a fighting chance, on a budget perhaps better suited to raising earthworms. While the habitat is not optimal it does show a move in that direction. At this time the requirement for proper UVA/UVB illumination remains to be met. For now at least, he seems to be very happy, adjusting well and eating food.

For more information on the care, feeding, health and habitat of turtles kept as pets please search the internet - that's what it's there for...

 [tag:diy family pictures educational musing tips]

Ever since attending Fandom Fest, Louisville in July - I think it is safe to say - I have become quite the Pig Head. To avoid confusion I should say - more specifically - I have become a Big Biting Pig Head. I am referring of course to Pig Biting Pig Productions, independent purveyors of Horror and all that goes with it. I have already introduced the reader to this merry band of movie-makers in a previous post [see: Bitten By The Big Pig] and have directed your attention to PJ Woodside's Blog entitled "This Old B1tch Makes Horror Flicks." But it is the preexisting parallels between my life and this outfit that have me pondering - to the point of musing - today.

I think it important to note that I have decided to read PJ's blog from beginning to end (something I feel is required before I can honestly say I am "following" a blogger.) While everything she offers is genuinely fun and insightful, there is a particular post that seems best to explain my fascination with this Big Biting Pig enterprise. I am referring to her post of November 30, 2012 titled "of fans and piglets." I will not re-tell the details of the story here rather I would encourage you to visit her Blog and read it for yourself [see: "of fans and piglets"] (Since I have not yet completed reading the full assortment of the site's articles I reserve the right to draw your attention to another quintessential PJ post should one present itself.)

She talks about it in the above recommended article and it seems to be a recurring topic of seemingly great importance to PJ. It is embodied in the word "collaborative." I suspect it is her awareness and attention to the boundless potential of "on the fly" collaboration during the movie making process that helps to make her such an outstanding director. Far be it from me to try to relate to the life and times of an independent filmmaker the likes of PJ Woodside, but when it comes to admitting that a project owes much of its success to the power of collaboration I think I can speak with some authority.

Please Read On ...

Claire and Brodyn racing their invisible cars in a single lap feature. Winner take all!

Luckily Papaw had his camera on hand to capture
this sibling showdown!

[Stop-Motion Animation Above is 150X113 scaled to 350X339]
[320X240]-Downloads-[640X480]
[tag:animation family entertainment educational musing photography strange watch download]