alex k patterson dot blogspot dot com

LibriVox

2006-05-09T19:35:00.000-07:00

This site is awesome. I love to read. This site takes public domain books from Project Gutenberg and through volunteers turns them into audiobooks. Some of them are collaborative efforts and some are solo projects. This is really cool because all of the files are in the public domain and free forever. I love this site. I think I am going to contribute. A book I am thinking about is From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne. Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I hope to resume frequent posts.

Computer Apps

2006-01-05T11:50:00.000-08:00

Right now I am in Computer Apps. It is an extremely boring class. I already know what they teach us. Right now we are learning about Word. I really wish I could have a more thought provoking computer class. Typing is called keying in the book. I learned how to save, print, open a document, and fun stuff like that. At least it is easy and I have lots of free time.

Pi Trainer

2005-12-16T17:39:00.000-08:00

This is awesome. It is a way to help you memorize my favorite irrational number. Pi. You type as many digits of pi as you know and it will tell you how many you got right. The cool part is it will give you a few more to memorize and then try again. They also have one for e. If you like digg it.

Free Music From Pandora

2005-11-11T13:25:00.000-08:00

While searching Digg I came across Pandora. Pandora is a free service that takes your favorite artist or song and finds other songs that you should like. It is very cool. You can then listen to the songs. It is basically a radio station that plays only what you like. If you notice the title there is a way to download the music that Pandora plays. This tutorial is a combination of stories I found on Digg.

1. First, go to Pandora and type in your favorite artist or song.
2. When the music starts to play pause the music.(Pandora MUST be open or else the folder is cleared)
3. Pandora caches the music in a folder on your HD. All you have to do is find it.
4. It should be in "C:\Documents and Settings\%USERNAME%\Local Settings\Temp\plugtmp" Or at least it is on my PC. (For what to look for on Mac and Linux go here)
5. If you can't find the folder do a search for it.
6. The music is stored in the "about" files. I have noticed that Pandora caches the song after the one currently playing. So if you are looking for a specific song then you might want to look at the next to last one.
7. Copy the "about" file that you want to use to another folder.
8. To be able to play it add the ending ".mp3" to the end of it. Make sure that under Tools, Folder Options, View that the box next to "Hide extensions for known file types" is unchecked.
9. The icon of the file should change to look like a music file.
10. Play the MP3 in your music player of choice to verify it is the song that you wanted. Correct the ID3 information and you are good to go.
11. If you go back to Pandora and click on the Album cover you can click "Buy this album from Amazon" to get all of the info about the song including the album artwork.

UPDATE
I have discoverd a way to get around the limit on the number of skips you can do an hour. If you create a 2nd station that has music you like you can swith back and forth if a song you want to skip comes up. Click on the 2nd station and then click back on the 1st one. It will advance the song by one.

The Portable Freeware Collection

2005-10-29T11:01:00.000-07:00

This is a very useful site that is updated daily. It is a database of applications that you can run on your USB thumb drive, portable hard drive, or even your iPod. All you do is use a program, like IZArc, to unzip the file and you can run it sans install. This in itself would be great, but there is one more cool feature. If a program is not portable (if you have to install it) he has instructions for making it portable. There is also a list of programs that can't be made portable with an explanation of why. This site is very interesting and extremely useful.

I Am Back

2005-10-28T14:53:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody. I haven't been on in a while. I have had soooooooo much school work. Now I hope to start blogging more frequently. I have discovered a ton of things to blog about so stay tuned!

Fall Break

2005-09-30T17:57:00.000-07:00

Today is the first day of Fall break. I have 2 weeks to relax and be lazy. I, however, have a ton of homework. Oh, well not much I can do about it, but do it.

Spam Comments

2005-09-12T13:25:00.000-07:00

Ok guys, I wish I didn't have to deal with this, but it looks like I do. In the comments section I have had some advertisements. These are a waste of bandwidth so don't post them because I will remove them. They are just an annoyance to everyone.

Free Movies Addition

2005-07-22T18:30:00.000-07:00

Google has added a feature to the search where you can specify if the content you search for is actully playable. This makes the idea much better.

All Things iPod

2005-07-06T08:34:00.000-07:00

I have just created a new blog, All Things iPod, where I will post anything and everything that I belive deserves recognition and deals with the iPod.

FREE MOVIES!!!!!!!! --Update Post--

2005-06-30T08:45:00.000-07:00

I keep updating the Free Movies post so here is a completely new post w/ all the updates.

UPDATE-------------------------------
Sorry I forgot to put a link to the site.
http://video.google.com/

UPDATE2-------------------------------
I just found out that you can search not only movies but also TV shows. Do I see the future of TV?

UPDATE3-------------------------------
I just found out that you cannot actually watch most of the stuff you search for. Bummer.

FREE MOVIES!!!!!!!!

2005-06-30T08:28:00.000-07:00

I have just discovered a way to watch free movies online. And -here is the great part- they are provided by Google. Some movies you can only watch from certain points but others, like The Matrix Revolutions , can be watched all the way through. You are unable to pause the movies or watch them in full screen, but hey it's FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Call 4 Help

2005-06-11T14:55:00.000-07:00

I have recently discovered a site that has bit torrent links for the Call 4 Help Canada TV shows. It is extremely cool. It is called CFH Tracker. If you miss Leo then this could be your answer.

Summer Break

2005-05-28T17:33:00.000-07:00

I am finnaly a Sophmore. It is the FIRST day of summer break. I am so glad to be out of school. I now have 2 months of rest and relaxation.

Star Wars III

2005-05-19T17:07:00.000-07:00

I saw Star Wars Episode III at midnight!!!! It was a great movie. It blew all of the others out of the water. It was my very first midnight showing of a movie. All of my friends were jealous. Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I have been bogged down with tons of school work. Only one more week to go. May 27 can;t come soon enough.

STRESSED!!!!!

2005-04-21T17:13:00.000-07:00

I have a ton of school work for tomorrow! I have a stupid "Special Occasion" speech to present for speech class (unless your Mr. Skilton and then I made a typo). I have a Biology service project proposal and quiz over some stupid stuff I don't care about (unless your Mrs. Bayles and then I can't wait). And I have a Social Studies test. Guess what it is over. Economics!!! UGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!! I HATE it (unless your Mrs. Watt and in that case I am looking forward to it). I never thought I would actually looking forward to Spanish (Just kidding Mrs. Everly). No me gusta la clase de espanol. The worst part is I have almost zero of the stuff I need to prep for all of this. Words of encouragement in the comments PLEASE!!!

Hard Drive Crash

2005-04-15T21:27:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. About a week ago my hard drive started making funny noises and I kept getting Blue Screens of Death. My hard drive eventually crashed taking all my unbacked-up music and pics w/ it. I am trying some stuff to get the data back. THIS REALLY BITES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YaGoohoo!gle

2005-04-06T18:18:00.000-07:00

I have discovered a search engine that combines the powers of Yahoo and Google. Check it out here!

iTunes Sleep Timer

2005-04-05T17:55:00.000-07:00

I have been looking for a long time for something like this. It is a way to configure a smart playlist in iTunes to act as a sleep timer. You can listen to your music while falling asleep and after a set time the music will stop. I have Windows XP and could only find software that would work for OS X. This is the perfect tip for me because I don't have an iPod. If you have any tips that you have discovered that are simple and do what you want post it in the comments. For details on how to do this visit my site here.

School

2005-04-04T19:47:00.000-07:00

Today is my first day of school. UGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! Everything was OK though. I have very little homework so that is good. On Wednesday I have a Biology quiz on the anatomy of the worm. Exciting, right? Well only 8 more weeks 'till Summer Break.

Daylight Savings Time

2005-04-02T22:33:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is Daylight Savings Time. Set all of your clocks forward by one hour. Hope nobody is late for anything.

Gmail

2005-04-01T18:26:00.000-08:00

I have 50 gmail invites for anyone who needs Gmail. They are upping the amount of storage from 1 gigabyte to Infinity + 1 gigabytes. Confused? Go to the Gmail sign-in page for more details. Leave your email address in the comments.

Google Gulp

2005-04-01T17:22:00.000-08:00

On Google's home page there is a link for "Google Gulp." It is a pretty thourough April Fools joke. Kind of unbeliveable but it looks neat. What are your thoughts about it?

Profanity

2005-04-01T17:21:00.000-08:00

I would like to say that I do not want any kind of profanity on this blog. I will NEVER post any and I would ask that you don't either.

Return Of The Beach

2005-03-30T16:53:00.000-08:00

I have made it back from the beach. Due to a driver problem I was unable to get online. It was great. We got home at about 5:00 PM today. I am glad to finnaly be home online and with my TiVo. I'll post some pics on my Moblog. Check it out!

Beach

2005-03-22T11:41:00.000-08:00

At 5:00 today I am leaving to go to the beach. I will be there for one whole week. It will be great. I will be swimming and relaxing at the beach. I can't wait. I am taking my computer but I don't know how often I will be able to post. I'll post some pictures on my other site.

Beyond Belief

2005-03-21T01:12:00.000-08:00

I have just discovered a really cool TV show called "Beyond Belief:Fact or Fiction." They show five reenactments of what are supposed to be real stories that are very strange. They deal with ghosts or supernatural occurrences. Some are true and some aren't. You have to find out which is which. At the end they tell you which ones were true and which ones weren't. It's on the Sci-Fi channel. Check it out if you can.

TiVo

2005-03-20T22:56:00.000-08:00

I have had a TiVo for about two months and I love it. I am just writing this because tomorrow I am expecting a wireless network adapter so I can transfer my shows to my laptop. For all of you who don't know what a TiVo is, it is a box that allows you to pause and rewind TV. Also you can record shows. It has a built-in hard drive. It is like recording shows with a VCR that has hours of record time, wonderful quality, and a candy coated easy to use interface. NO VCR has that. Try TiVo if you don't have one. The website is here.

Mozilla Firefox

2005-03-20T15:17:00.000-08:00

I'm bored so I thought I just might make sure everybody who reads my blog knows about this. Mozilla Firefox is the best internet browser ever! It has so many more features then Internet Explorer. You should definitely get it if you don't have it already. What are you doing sitting here reading this? Go get it! You will be using a superior browser and NOT using something made by Microsoft.

Phone Problems

2005-03-19T20:43:00.000-08:00

I am getting really ticked. When I try to access my voicemail on my phone it won't work. I can call the number fine, but when I try to press a button to get my new messages it's like the network doesn't know that I am pressing a button. It shows up on my phone that I have indeed pushed the button but nothing happens. It makes me really mad because I can't get the little envelope off of my phone because I can't get my messages. I am really mad! I have Cingular. If you are having the same problem leave your story in comments.

Bored

2005-03-19T16:10:00.000-08:00

I am extremly bored. Nothing to do. What do you like to do on the web? Where do you hang on the internet? Post it in the comments.

Spring Break

2005-03-19T11:14:00.000-08:00

Today is the first day of my 2 weeks of spring break. I can finnaly relax and do what I want. We're going to the beach soon and I can't wait. Hpoefully now I'll be able to post more often.

Project Gutenberg

2005-01-05T20:41:00.000-08:00

Project Gutenberg is a really cool site. They have tons of free, downloadable e-books. Just about anything you could want. They also have some nice audio books. Most are read by computers but a few are by volunteers. The complete works of Sherlock Holmes is cool. I listen to them on my MP3 player. This is a must see site.

Magnatune

2005-01-05T09:56:00.000-08:00

Today I just discovered an awesome site called Magnatune. It is a record label that lets you listen to the entire song before buying it. You just stream the music you want to listen to. They have a ton of good stuff. Then if you want to buy it you can pick what you want to pay for it. You can pay as little as $5 for one album. Half of what you pay goes to the artist. They also liscence music for comerical use. This is a really cool site. Check it out.

First Post

2005-01-04T20:45:00.000-08:00

This is my first serious blog. I will try to post a often as I can.