HOWEVER, if you’re using Windows 7 you might notice the HTC Sync software doesn’t exactly…work. This is unfortunate because I’m at the point where my 3G was cutoff and more recently my phone services as well.

If you havn’t been able to figure out the HTC Sync problem here is what worked for me:

*Notes before starting:
Make sure to back up your data on your phone before starting this in case something goes wrong.

Download HTC Sync and the update here

There’s also a PDF available for download on the same page which could help with the walkthrough for the process, this is just a quick guide to make HTC Sync work.

1. Install the HTC Sync software normally
2. Exit the program after its been installed (If it auto-runs after install)
3. In your Start Menu ‘Right-Click’ on HTC Sync and choose ‘Properties’
4. Select the tab which reads ‘Compatibility’. I went with Vista Service Pack 2
5. Select Okay. Right-Click on the Menu HTC Sync and ‘Run as Administrator’ (Not sure if that’s necessary or not).
6. Voila! Hook up your phone to the computer with your usb and everything should work well and you can finally update your phone

Here’s a forum thread which helped me out as well, definitetly worth checking out:
Android forum

Hope everything works out!
Jerry P

Download a small program called “Flashfire” and the next time you boot up Windows will be running the way it should have been!

This is a huge lifesaver as I need Windows for school and it just wasn’t cutting it before. So far everything runs well but if I run into any issues or tweaks I’ll post it here. However it should be noted that any questions or additional tips are mostly available at the forum’s Q&A.

Credit has to go to this thread I originally found while searching.

Here are my time stats as of these new changes. This was done with a proper shutdown and hard boot:

Start-up (Login Screen): 36 Seconds / 38 Seconds / 38 Seconds
Running Desktop: 1:00 / 1:10 / 1:00
Shutdown: 2:05 / 1:30 / 1:35

Good hunting!
Jerry P.

Destroyer
Bay of Pigs E.P.

I was only a bit reluctant to include Bay of Pigs on here because this isn’t exactly an album but rather a two song EP. However it has a strong candidate for my ‘song of the year’ on it so I felt obliged to pay my respects.

“Bay of Pigs” is the first of two tracks on the EP and it’s a hypnotic fusion of ambient synth and well-placed full band accompaniment alongside the trademark quick lyricism of Dan Bajer.

I listen to this and feel the control he has over his music. There’s a calm patience in the songwriting of this album where he allows the full effect of the music to take effect and easily transition into the next movement. There’s is nothing forced here, all natural.

The second song on the EP, “Ravers”, is a haunting and beautiful one. There are times where you almost slip out of the conscious act of listening (not to be mistaken with falling asleep). It’s one of those songs where you continue to sit there and listen to the buzzing silence for a long while before you realize it’s over.

There’s times where I listen to the EP two or three times before I can finally move on to something else. It really takes you for a ride.

Bay of Pigs as a whole is just a solid record worth listening to over and over again.

Track listing

Side A: “Bay of Pigs” – 13:37
Side B: “Ravers” – 7:50

Jerry P.

To mark the end of this year I’ve decided to post my top 10 albums of this past three hundred and something days. I intended at first to make one post of this but I found that as I kept going the blog was getting much too long, so I’ve decided to break this up into ten seperate posts.

So here is my 2009 Miniseries on musical music-ness-ness.

Part One

Attack in Black
Years (by One Thousand Fingertips)

Yeah, who didn’t see this coming from me.

It was hard for me to believe that this was a 2009 album, it must have come out REALLY early in the year.

I was nervous about this cd. I was nervous because I was afraid I was going to be let down and dissapointed by it. I wasn’t sure which Attack in Black I was going to run into here.

I got the cd and put it in my car as soon as I left the mall to see what I was getting myself into.

What a sigh of relief.

Where to start..
Every album this band has released only keeps impressing me as they continue to mature. I can’t emphasize my affection for the “live” sound a cd can capture. Years plays like an intimate house show with all your friends just relaxing to a few brews.

Years posseses a very important quality I consider while deciding on whether this album is one I’m going to treasure or find a dissapointment. One of my first tests for a good album is to see if I have ANY desire to skip the track on my first listen through. I didn’t find this happening to me at all. Years had me wrapped up in its story and the biggest dissapointment was that it had to end.

Attack in Black continues to blur the lines of genre as there is no convention to their approach to music aside from an honest and gritty mash of sound with soulful lyrics to create something genuine and unique.

Music aside I can’t help but associate Years with long highway drives during the night to and from Toronto during the winter. It’s an album that’s become more than just an album and carries a strong emotional connection to those nights to which I loved.

Tracks (Thanks Wikipedia)
1. “Years (by One Thousand Fingertips)”
2. “Leaving Your Death in a Flowerbed”
3. “Birmingham”
4. “The Greater Niagara Circle Route”
5. “Liberties”
6. “I Could Turn”
7. “Beasts”
8. “Leather Jacket”
9. “Messenger Bird”
10. “Seeds”
11. “Slender Loris”
12. “I’m a Rock”
13. “Blood (in the Tracks)”
14. “Moon of Day”
15. “Brownness of Her Curls”
16. “The Surface I Would Travel”

Jerry P.

Daytrotter

I listened through Ragan’s session and immediately wanted more. I clicked through the session archives and discovered a plethora of music recorded over years nearly daily.

Evidently as it turns out, Daytrotter is a recording studio in Rock Island, Illinois, where artists stop for a day to record three or four songs on the spot. All the music is free to download and stream through the site.

The music ranges from indie to folk with artists such as Death Cab for Cutie and Cursive amongst the roll call, to name but two. Probably the most fun I had on this site was clicking on random artists and discovering music which become new favourites as I went on.

Additionally there are artist renditions and short essays of the artists which accompany each session which tend to invoke a grassroots DIY attitude that can’t help but make you feel as though we’re part of a larger overall community of musicians, artists, and those who appreciate it all.

Final thoughts? Words?…Check it out?

Daytrotter Sessions

I booted up and at first glance Jolicloud looks very similar to it’s cousin Ubuntu Netbook Remix, actually it appears near identical in the menu layout barring a few minor icon changes hear and there. However what impressed me the most right off the bat was the fact that the wireless internet was already working! In every iteration of my Ubuntu installations on the ZG5 Aspire One, the wireless module was inactive and required extensive work to set it back up. It was a nice surprise to waive that concern with Jolicloud. Even the wireless LED works!

Apps

Another neat little feature I enjoy is the menu icon enabling easy access in controlling the processor to help optimize performance or power efficiency. The OS in addition supports touchscreen (which I believe would work amazing here).

The biggest departure from it’s other Linux cousins is the Jolicloud Dashboard. This aspect of Jolicloud is something akin to the control center where we are able to update the machine, adjust the profile of the user, install new applications, and participate in social networking.

The usual suspects appear with featured applications such as ‘Wine’ and ‘Skype’ in easy installations which literally take one click to apply.

To expand on the social aspect of Jolicloud, there is a feature which displays new users to the OS and a choice to ‘follow’ them similarily like Twitter. This allows users to see what applications have been installed. I admit I havn’t delved too deeply into this aspect of Jolicloud as of yet.

I am not really sure what else to say at this point in time, the system performs beautifully with no crashes or glitches to date and no problems with the initial installation. I definitely look forward to what new features the developers will implement in the beta and subsequently the official release.

Currently Jolicloud is developing and soon releasing it’s own USB boot application to make it more convenient to install it for netbooks.

If you own a netbook I’d give Jolicloud an honest go, now!

Jolicloud Twitter
Jolicloud Website

-Jerry P

Holy Crap! Star Wars outfits! Lightsabers! Gears of War suits! Amazing I thought, I can finallt fully nerd up my avatar with Jedi battle robes and appropriate lightsaber. Oh but wait, hold on. What’s this? Hey…What’s that on the top left there…WHAT? This costs MONEY?

Yes, it’s true. Microsoft has managed to find more ways to fuck me over financially, the piest de resistance? I actually bought The lightsaber because I thought it would look pretty sweet and “hey, it’s just a one time thing, right?”. Here’s the real kick in the balls, it only appears at this point on your main menu screen, so you won’t be swinging around that new lazer sword in your xbox live party. Alas this was part of the accessories, so perhaps outfits and helmets might appear.

However does this monetary aesthetic eye candy update justify costs of up to the range of 500 microsoft points (roughly $7.50)? Congratulations Microsoft, hats off, you bastards. Althought to be fair the updates look VERY nice, but at what cost? I’m sure plenty of people will pony up the cash for these new features.

In addition there appeared to be a new menu option on the avatar screen which is designated for unlockable content, interesting? I havn’t had much of a chance yet to investigate this but perhaps this is unlockable content from avatar games, or perhaps will be a new feature incorporated into existing xbox games. Speculation huzzah!

-Jerry P

Truthfully it was a pretty badass hike, I’ve never really been on a long hike before, none at least which procured more than a few hours of my time. The trail Mike (Rapidfire068) and Thom (TJBRO) had chosen was a 35km endeavor which to me for some reason didn’t sound all too bad. Really, I can drive 35km in fifteen minutes, how bad could it be?

We agreed on a Tim Hortons breakfast as our meeting point in Huntsville before hitting the trail, delicious. The beginning of the hike consisted mostly of us vocalising the musical stylings of Howard Shore’s Lord of the Rings soundtrack, specifically that which pertains to our heroes trekking the landscape (dun, dun, dun dun dun…)

oh HAI!

Evidently our 17km campsite was much farther than we expected. Turns out the trail was littered with sharp inclines and steep declines, it was pleasant-most pleasant. Eventually we had made it to this lookout where there were two dudes with a dog with no tail smoking pot, the scenic view was enjoyed by all.

After walking through rickety log makeshift bridges/bogs/hills we made it to our site and promptly took a dive in the lake. It was a good night of stew, songs, fire, and wild Sasquatch encounters.

The next day was awesome. I slept well, I pooped, I had coffee, I felt like I could take on the whole empire myself. However to much to our shagrin it wasn’t long into the hike when we hit a storm (which actually made us walk more quickly). For whatever reason the second day of hiking was much better for me barring the soaked shoes/soaks which stressed me out a bit, luckily nothing happened to my feet (this time).

We came, we saw, we kicked that trail’s ass. Finally reaching the end of the trail was a fair amount of awesome, almost as much as the victory food from Wendys.

Being back at Algonquin Park brought back a lot of memories I have from going there as a kid with my parents, I was hit pretty hard with all the nostalgia of passing all those landmarks and signs I considered once as my second home.

(cheese)I really miss being outside like this and really cherished this experience, it’s hard for me to ask for anything more than spending the weekend with a couple of my best friends outdoors.(/cheese)

*Notes:
Thanks go to Thom for his rad water filtering system and letting us use it, we would have probably died if he hadn’t. Mike, thanks for helping me out with my pack all the time haha.

-Jerry P