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UFC 112

The Middleweight and Lightweight kings are back in the octagon defending their titles. For the first time, UFC will be holding their first event in Abu Dhabi in an outdoor arena. Fighters will be fighting in the open environment, so let’s hope it doesn’t rain.

Anderson Silva vs Demian Maia

Anderson Silva was slated to face fellow Brazilian Vitor Belfort, but due to a shoulder injury Demian Maia has stepped up to take his place to fight for the title.  I think Maia makes a more dangerous opponent than Belfort. Maia’s BBJ is world-class and is second to none in MMA. Silva’s ground game is underrated and he’ll prove that this Saturday. Maia’s only advantage is taking the fight to the ground, but that’s easier said than done when the Champ is considered the best striker in all of MMA. It’s not to say that it’s an impossible task as other fighters in the past have managed to take Silva down such as Dan Henderson and Travis Lutter. In reality there is no perfect game plan against Anderson Silva. Maia will have to close the distance to even attempt a take down, and even then, that’s where the Champ is the most dangerous with this Thai clinch and knees. I see this fight ending in a boring decision with Maia evading the striking prowess of Silva or a devastating KO by the hands or knees of the Middleweight champ.

BJ Penn vs Frankie Edgar

BJ Penn has truly focused on his career establishing himself as the best Lightweight fighter of all time. Penn has defended his title 3 times with ease. And on Saturday he will be facing a fighter with fast hands and great wrestling, Frankie Edgar. Edgar is one of the few fighters in MMA that mixes this quick crisp boxing with his wrestling very well.  But the same can be said about BJ Penn about his boxing and BJJ. The only thing that Edgar brings to the table on Saturday is his fast hands. As of late, Penn’s stand-up has been giving all his opponents trouble, and it’s where he wears down his foes and finishes them off on the ground. So fast hands won’t be enough to take the belt from the Prodigy. Edgar will need a game plan that forces Penn to pick up the pace in the fight and draw it out into the championship rounds. I haven’t been sold on his “improved cardio”. If Edgar can avoid the ground game and push the pace for the first few rounds he can capitalize on a very tired BJ Penn in rounds 4 and 5.  Unfortunately the only person with the skill-set that can implement that plan is currently holding the Welterweight title. I see this fight ending via TKO or submission with Penn licking his glove and the belt still around his waist.

My Picks:

Anderson Silva beats Demian Maia
BJ Penn beats Frankie Edgar
Renzo Gracie beats Matt Hughes
Terry Etim beats Rafael Dos Anjos
Mark Munoz beats Kendall Grove
Paul Taylor beats John Gunderson
Matt Veach beats Paul Kelly

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Yay! For Home Ownership

For those who have been wondering where I’ve been for the past couple of weeks, I have been working on my new house. My girlfriend and I have taken up the task to do some of the remodeling ourselves (with the help of family members of course).

So, 3 MMA events have come and gone with no posts from me. I’ll try to post my picks for UFC 112 later this week for those who wants to know my thoughts on it.

Until then here are some pictures of our remodeling process.

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Repo Men

Forrest Witaker and Jude Law work for the Union, a company that specializes in poviding artificial organs. Witaker and Law are repo men who retrieves those organs from those who fail to make their monthly payments.  In a freak accident Law ends up becoming a client for the company he works for by having an artifical heart implanted. Law no longer is able to perform his Repo job and becomes one of the victims he hunted in the past.

Repo Men’s premise sounds great, but the execution of the story was done poorly. The movie dragged on longer than is should, and the lack of character devolopement didn’t help it either. But there were some moments of action and fun, but it was done too sparringly to keep it interesting.

Rating: ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆

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Tech Tip: Offline files as a Backup Solution

One of the most important things I tell my users is to always backup their data because they never know. Sometimes people forget to run the backup process or copy the files and folder to a backup drive. Most people buy thumb drives or external hard drives and manually copy their files over to it. Sometimes those backup devices come with cumbersome software where you have to schedule a task to run your backup.  But there is a simple and relatively inexpensive solution that can can keep your files backed up and do so automatically.

This solution will require a few things. In addition to your personal computer you will need a Network Attach Storage Devices (NAS), or a spare computer with enough space to backup your files. And I’m assuming you have a home network through a wired LAN or wireless.

1. If you’re using a NAS, create a mapped drive on your computer (pointing to the NAS or a directory on the NAS).

2. (If you use Windows Vista or 7 skip to step 4) On your computer, enabled Offline Files. To do that on a Windows XP system you will need to disable Fast User Switching in the User Accounts settings in the Control Panel (this process is required to enabled Offline files).

3. Then go to Folder Options in the Control Panel then to the Offline Files tab and enable the Offline File by selecting the check box.

4. Finally, go to your mapped drive, right click it, and click Make Drive Available Offline. Then copy all the files you want backed up into that drive. That’s it. You’re all set.

If you’re using the spare computer make sure you create a directory and share it. Be sure to give that shared folder read and write access. The rest of the process is exactly the same as described above.

When the files are copied to that drive you actually have two copies. One on that network drive and one stored locally on your computer. Even when you’re disconnected from your network you’ll still have access to your files. If you edit or add new files  it will sync with the network once you do connect back to it. You can always force it to sync or it’ll sync by itself at its default schedule of 1 hour intervals. Also, the sync process will automatically run when you log off or turn off your computer.

Note: I recommend you work directly off that mapped drive or link it your Documents folder.

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She’s Out Of My League

Jay Baruchel plays Kirk, an average guy who doesn’t have much luck with the ladies, gets hit on by a beautiful girl named Molly. On a hotness scale Molly’s a 10 and Kirk’s a 5 with nothing going for him. Kirk’s friends are confused. The math doesn’t add up and they’re convinced that their relationship will be short-lived.  This movie falls short of trying to be an Aptow flick (Knocked Up, 40 Year Old Virgin) instead it’s just a mediocre romantic comedy.
Rating: ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆

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Tech Tip: Sharing printers on Windows Server 2008

Sharing printers on a Windows Server 2003 is easy. Windows 2008 Server has increased security and sharing printers may require an additional step. Computers and users on the same domain or has an NTLM user account on the server will have no problems accessing shared printers. It’s the computers and users who are not on the domain or have an NTLM user account that sometimes have problems accessing the shared printers such as non-members or guests.

In Windows 2003 server and prior, if the user’s computer did not have the correct drivers the server would push the drivers to that computer to print. In Windows 2008 server, an additional explicit permission will have to be given for the server to give access to those drivers.

To give non-member or guest users access to those drivers you’ll need to access the folder: C:\Windows\System32\spool\driver and give that folder Read permissions to the Guest account.

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Old School MP3 Players revisited

These were the first MP3 players that I bought (pictures were take off their wikipedia page). They were expensive, and at the time many people were unaware of these portable audio products and it was considered a niche tech device. It wasn’t until a few years later that the Apple iPod made it’s debut that popularize and became ubiquitous in the portable audio device industry. The one on the right (Rio 500) was purchase back in 1999, and the one on the left (Rio S10) I purchased when I was in college.

I gave the Rio 500 to my brother after using it for a year and replaced it with a Panasonic CD player that was capable of reading MP3 files. The MP3 CD player was great because I was able to store a ton of songs on a CD compared to the 64 MB that was built into the Rio 500. With the CD player I could listen while waiting between classes in college and wouldn’t have to worry about listening to the same song 12 times a day.  It wasn’t until I started doing long distance running that I got the Rio S10. The unit was light and I could hold it comfortably in my hand when I ran. Unfortunately it also had 64 MB, but it was enough to last me a whole run.

Eventually my running out-grew the Rio S10, and I picked up a Creative Muvo. It had 256 MB of memory. It was a good player but it didn’t last very long since there was no good way of holding it when I ran, so I gave that away to my brother too. I later bought an iPod Nano. I quickly realize the Nano was too big. Wearing the Nano iPod arm strap was too cumbersome, so I traded down for a shuffle which I think is the best MP3 player for a runner or for anyone who likes with listen to music when they workout.

MP3 players have come a long way and I’ve been following it since appeared in consumer hands. Today they’ve become more popular than ever. The ability to play MP3s are now embedded into almost every portable device from GPS units, cell phones, car stereos, and even sunglasses. As with all individual technologies it can adapt to the advancement of other technologies around it or die off in obsolescence. MP3-only devices are approaching the latter, but not without a fight. Many of the successors of MP3 players of yesterday are called Portable Media Players (PMPs) today. Not only do these play music, but they play video. And even these PMPs are beginning to reach obsolescence as well. They will soon be replaced by handheld video game consoles and smartphones. Only time will tell, but I’m sure their days are numbered.

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Tech Tip: Wireless Configuration and Security

There have been countless amount of times where I would scan a neighborhood and see a few unsecured wireless network. Most people who buy wireless routers simply forget to modify their security settings. Here are some suggestions you can do to increase security and protect your wireless access from prying eyes.

  • Enabled the wireless security and use WPA Personal or WPA2 Personal. Avoid using WEP as it has been proven to not be as secure.
  • Change the SSID to something that you can easily recognize as your own, but different enough where no one can pinpoint where it’s from. Better yet disable the broadcast of your SSID. The latter will provide better security, but when you want allow other devices to to  your wifi you’ll have to manually add the wireless network to it.
  • Change the admin login of the wireless device. This one is obvious but people tend to forget to change this sometimes.
  • Place the wireless router somewhere in the middle of your home.  This will give you maximum coverage for you and minimizes the range for access outside your home.
  • If your wireless router manages your internet connection make sure you do not have any unused ports enabled in your Port Forwarding settings. Most newly purchased wireless routers comes with all their ports disabled in Port Forwarding, but it doesn’t hurt to double check.