Writing a (.img) file to a USB in Windows

This one is quick and easy but requires a 3rd party piece of software. Just enough detail here to need a page break... enjoy the sweet gooey goodness of knowledge after the break!

Some Other Linux Distros for Netbooks [April 2013]

Following my post on netbook suitable Linux distributions, I was given several recommendations...
These are a few of the follow up tests I did on distro's I had never used before.

Each was installed and tested using the following hardware:

• ASUS 1000HE Netbook
• 2GB RAM
• 32GB SSD

So before I begin, this post will feel somewhat more critical than the last. This is NOT because I am responding to reader suggestions. Please be assured that I am being critical of the flaws I feel are important. It is possible that you might love every second of use you got from these operating systems. I am not attacking anyone's opinions personally, and I hope you all have long happy lives. If after that warning you still  feel the need to angry comment, then I hope you die under a bridge, troll!!! ;)

The first 3D graphics card I ever bought...

The 3dfx Voodoo 1

I cannot even express the joy that this card brought and still brings me today. This picture very nearly brings tears to my eyes as I type this post. In the mid 90's I was a scrawny little asthmatic white boy who loved, truly loved, two things in this world, bb guns and computer games.

How to configure Sickbeard

Sickbeard

Sickbeard is advertised as "The ultimate PVR application that searches for and manages your TV shows - Automatically finds new and old episodes for you and it works with your current download client!" This is exactly the type of thing that computers were designed for! Tivo and the cable companies have offered pay upgradable DVR receivers for many years now, it seemed crazy that the internet didn't have a similar feature to offer all of you perfectly legal file sharing types...

Before we get into the installation and configuration portion of Sickbeard let me talk for a brief moment about the pitfalls you may encounter.

When I began using Sickbeard I already had a robust library of episodes. Not the type of library that was easily repaired or replaced after making a mistake with a program that would automatically rename and sort my files...

Trust me when I say, "It sucks when you accidentally destroy and entire show's worth of data just by scrambling all of the filenames. It sucks so, so much."

Okay, there are a few keys to making Sickbeard work well. The first is understanding what each post processing option does, and the other is strict German-esq folder organization.

LINUX #2!

GET EXCITED!

Linux has just passed Mac OS for the 2nd place traffic source for this blog!

You guys still have a long way to go if we want to beat out Windows... I know that you can do it!

Keep up the good work!

Beginners Guide to Usenet [Part 4 - Configuring Third Party Applications!]

This is part 4 of my series on getting started with Usenet...

Beginners Guide to Usenet [Part 1 - Introduction]
Beginners Guide to Usenet [Part 2 - Signing up for a Usenet Subscription]
Beginners Guide to Usenet [Part 3 - Install & Configure sabNZBD+]

By now you have already finished setting up a Usenet subscription and installed your download client! At this point you have finished setting up Usenet at the most basic level. You might be tempted to call it a day, to settle for what you have accomplished here, and to continue finding and downloading your media by hand like you did with torrents.

I am here to tell you that this is no way to live your life!

The ultimate goal here is to have all of your TV, Movies, and Music automatically downloaded by scheduling application. We want the TV downloader to know when your favorite shows air, we want the Movies released by your favorite director to download automatically, and we want the new albums by your favorite bands to download as soon as they are available.

In the olden days we might have organized your downloaded content using something like Belvedere for Windows, or Hazel for Mac. This method was complex and easily broken by failure in your personalized Macros. It worked well for very specific tasks, but lacked the flexibility that I wanted when it came to media organization.

Enter Sickbeard...

Facebook Page is Up!

You can now Like Hobo-Geek on facebook by visiting our page!
Once you have liked us, you will receive exciting and interesting new articles in your feed on a semi regular basis!

Okay, so I don't always have a new project finished every day... but the stuff that is posted is usually like 75% typo free!

Okay... maybe I made that number up... but either way CHECK OUT THE NEW PAGE! :D

Beginners Guide to Usenet [Part 3 - Install & Configure sabNZBD+]

You have already read and digested:
Beginners Guide to Usenet [Part 1 - Introduction]
Beginners Guide to Usenet [Part 2 - Signing up for a Usenet Subscription]

Next you need to install the program that you will be using to download files from Usenet.

Installing Sickbeard - Debian based OS's

We are going to install a super cool program now called sickbeard. Sickbeard is targeted at Usenet users, and is designed to find its content on Usenet. BUT! It also has a really very functional torrent search built in too. So lets just dive right in and get things going. [UPDATE: the torrent search function is a bit limited these days unless you have some pretty gnarly private tracker invites. Check out my post on getting started with Usenet if you want to use this program to its full potential.]

Beginners Guide to Usenet [Part 2 - Signing up for a Usenet Subscription]

Back to [Part 1 - Introduction]

Lets walk through the steps involved in signing up for a Usenet subscription
This is the easiest part of getting started with Usenet!

First you need to choose a Usenet subscription service that suites you.