Major Tom now driving the Lincoln MKZ: Shiny Toy Guns take on Peter Schilling and improve on a masterpiece

The Shiny Toy Guns rendition of the song ‘Major Tom (coming home)’ is a perfect example of a new take on an already terrific song (Originally composed by Peter Schilling is the early 80s). Yes the remake is the same song used in the Lincoln MKZ commercial. Peter Schilling’s English Version of Major Tom (The original was in Deutsch) You need to a flashplayer enabled browser to view this YouTube video The Shiny Toy Guns version which...

ZyXEL WAP3205: Highly Adept Wireless Repeater and Wireless Bridge Router

The ZyXEL WAP3205 is an inexpensive ($35) little unit that comes with poor documentation but actually is a good product if used correctly. I needed an internet access point for a VoIP phone and I have a wireless network setup. At about $35 or so, the ZyXEL WAP3205 seemed to be the cheapest wireless router with abilities as a Repeater and Bridge router also. With a little bit of tinkering, I was able to get the desired function as a bridge router/local...

Coby DVD-233: Easy region free DVD ability on the cheap

The Coby DVD-233 is a cheaply made DVD player and currently available from Buy.com and several other places for about $30. This DVD player can be set to play DVDs with any region code by making it into a region free DVD players. Here’s the hack: 1. Turn on the player and eject the tray using your remote. 2. Press “MENU”, 8, 8, 8, 8 on the remote. You should see 5 asterisks near the top left of your screen. 3. Press DISPLAY. A dialog...

Be selective in donating to non-profits and donate with a long term commitment

I donate regularly to a few non-profits that focus on issues that matter to me. These non-profits tend to bombard me with postal mail and sometimes phone solicitations. I do not terribly mind this practice because after all sending reminders is one way to stay relevant in the mind of a donor. But the problem is that many other non-profits who possibly share marketing databases with the non-profits you donate to, also tend to send a lot of junk mail...