How to Connect Computer to TV

There are several ways to connect a computer to your television: S-Video, VGA, and DVI are a few of the older cables you can use. For the sake of this blog I will cover the newest and easiest - connecting via an HDMI cable.

But before I dive into this easy process, let’s discuss some of the benefits of transforming your TV into a monitor. The most obvious: you can save $$$ by dropping your cable provider and viewing all of your entertainment programming via the Internet. I personally will save $50-75 a month. There are free online sites that offer quality interactive entertainment, like the now famous hulu.com. Gaming is also a powerful excuse! My personal motivation is being a grad student taking online courses I wanted to have a great multimedia experience since I will spend several hours a week watching web lectures.

Ok now for the How To…

I started with my relatively new Dell Inspiron 1525 and my relatively new RCA 40″ Full HD 1080p LCD HDTV. My HDTV has 3 different HDMI ports whereas my laptop has one. Make sure you check your laptop has this port! An HDMI port resembles a USB one - except it’s slightly wider and flatter. If your computer only has a DVI port you may be in luck because lots of HDTVs have HDMI/DVI combined ports. The process of hooking this up is pretty much the same, except you use an HDMI/DVI cable instead (I’m a GENIUS!).

I purchased a 6′ Sony HDMI cable for $39 and a Logitech USB cable keyboard and mouse for $40 (includes speakers too). So I have my cable and my wireless keyboard and mouse for only 80 bucks. If you’re a smart shopper you will find these items online and probably save 50% of what I spent, but I’m impatient and wanted to do this tonight. Of course these components are not required if you have a laptop and a long enough cable chord. But to me that defeats the purpose - I want to get away from my computer and pretend like I’m just interacting with my TV while a lightweight ‘remote’ rests on my lap (keyboard) and a pointer on my couch arm (mouse). The ultimate Captain Chair :).

Select output on your TV remote control and select which HDMI port you plan to use (1,2, or 3). Connect cable to TV and computer. Within a few minutes computer should automatically detect the cable and give you screen options. I chose the Mirror option because sometimes the wireless mouse gets stuck and so I have to walk over to my computer and use the touchpad instead. This way I have the mirror image on both screens if I want to use one over the other.

Then, if the computer doesn’t automatically output to your TV screen select FN+F8 or FN+F11. FN+F8 worked for me.

Next you may need to experiment with your TV screen format. I had to use the “No Overscan” format view because it’s the only setting that displays the complete screen; others truncate the top and bottom. You may also need to experiment with the screen resolution on your computer.

Finally if you do decide to use a wireless keyboard, you’ll want to encrypt your key strokes. You can do this by installing the software that came with your hardware. After installation, the settings should provide a security option that takes you through a series of steps to make sure no one else can record or monitor your strokes. Once you complete this wizard you should be good to go.

The only performance issue I found was with the cheap keyboard and mouse. Sometimes the computer doesn’t detect their signals. I have to be within 6-8 feet of my computer for these devices to work correctly. Umm… with a 40″ screen you really don’t want to be that close! I even had to scoot my couch up a foot to prevent keystroke delays and stubborn mousing. It’s pretty frustrating actually, so I will most likely invest in more complimentary components and I would advise others to do the same.

How To Add The Blogger “Read More” Expandable Posts Link

This is a pretty popular Blogger hack that lots of people have asked me about. Instead of answering to each email individually, I thought it would make more sense to write an article about it.

With this hack, you can choose to display a select amount of text from the beginning of each post as a teaser instead of showing the entire post on the front page of your blog. Then when people want to read the rest of the post, they can click a “read more” link to see the full post. This is very handy if you have lots of long articles all on one page. (Note that you’ll need to have post pages enabled in order to make this feature work.)

Step #1 – Update Your Template Code

First you need to edit your existing code so I recommend copying and pasting it into notepad or any text editor. Also, it’s smart at this point to create a backup of your template just in case something goes wrong. Now do a search (CTRL + F) within the text editor for the following code post-header-line-1. This is the default code that Blogger includes but some custom templates remove or change this code so you might have trouble finding it. If you can’t locate this text then try searching for instead. Your template will for sure have this since it’s the tag that actually prints the body of your post.

Now depending on which code you were able to find will determine how easy the next steps will be. You might need to do some detective work first in order to get this working properly in your custom template. The idea is to get this new code into your template before the tag. Keep reading and hopefully the explanation will illustrate the concept clear enough so you are able to adapt this hack to your custom template.

Add the following code below the

and

tags if you’ve got both.







The result should look something like this:

If you don’t have the default

tag then your result should look something like this instead. This is how it would be done in the MushBlue Blogger custom template:

Notice in both examples that the code in yellow and the tags are the same — it’s just tag above it that will differ based on the template you’re using.

Now let’s add one more bit of code which will actually create the “read more” link in your post. This code will go below the tag so copy the following and paste it in. Feel free to change the “Read more…” text to whatever you want the link to look like. Be careful not to delete any other code during this process.





Read more...





Yes, there are supposed to be two tags in the above code so don’t think it’ s a mistake. The result should look like this:

This code will be the same no matter what template you are using. Just make sure it goes below the as shown in the image above.

Now let’s look at what the final result should be. Here’s the updated code block you just worked on all put together:

Ok, you’re all done editing the template code. Paste it back into your Blogger html window and save it. If you get an error, you made a mistake. The most common mistake is to accidentally delete a > or <>

Step #2 – Add a Class Tag in Your Default Post Template

For this step, you need to navigate in your Blogger account to “Settings” => “Formatting” and scroll all the way down to the bottom. It’s the last option called “Post Template”. You’re going to paste in the following code:

You’ll want to keep the spaces in there which will make sense later. After you save this, it will look like this:

Step #3 – Create a New Post

Ok, we’ve got everything all setup so it’s time to go and test it out. Hopefully you’ve got a new post in mind for your blog. If not, then we’ll just create a test post which you can later delete. When you click on the “Posting” tab, you’ll notice that the post text area is now pre-populated with the and tags. If not, then you didn’t save it properly so go back and re-read step #2.

So when writing your new post, anything you put above the tag will be the teaser text. The main body of your post needs to go in between the and tags in order for the “read more…” link to work properly. See the screenshot below. Sometimes pictures illustrate better than words.

Now publish or preview your post to see the “read more” hack working on your blog. If it doesn’t show up for some reason, go back and run through the steps again. Most likely you pasted the code blocks in the wrong places. It’s difficult to troubleshoot these issues since each template can be unique so please make sure to double-check your template before asking for help in the comments section below.

Here’s the live post with the “read more…” link properly working based on the text I used above in the post text area.

Additional Info

If you want to go back and update your old posts with this new “read more…” feature you can. Just go back and edit each post manually. Essentially you’ll need to paste in the and tags breaking apart the post into two parts.

For some posts, you might not want to use this feature at all. If that’s the case, just delete the and tags from within your new post text area. Then your new post will show up entirely just like it used to before you implemented this hack. Enjoy!

Ready to super charge your blog? Check out our professional premium blogger templates or make money by joining our blog affiliate program!

If you like this post then please consider subscribing to our eBlog Templates RSS feed. You can also subscribe by email and have new templates and articles sent directly to your inbox.

China's Anniversary Web Crackdown

Internet cafes vow to 'self regulate' in advance of a politically sensitive anniversary.

People use computers at an Internet cafe in Beijing, June 3, 2009.

HONG KONG—Controls over Chinese Internet users look set to intensify ahead of a sensitive political anniversary in October, with an announcement by Internet café owners that they will fully cooperate with government security measures.

Internet Café Associations in 30 major Chinese cities and provinces issued a statement titled “Self-regulating declaration on cleaning up the Internet café industry” Wednesday, vowing to abide by China’s laws and regulations concerning the Internet, official media reported.

The statement said Internet café owners would “cooperate with government efforts to close down illegal Internet cafes, to improve the quality of service in Internet cafes and voluntarily 'clean up' the industry.”

It also said the industry would work toward “putting an end to hidden security concerns.”

“Industry associations in China are semi-official organizations approved by the government, although they may have arisen from the private sector,” said He Qinglian, former editor of the Shenzhen Legal Daily newspaper.

“This communiqué has been issued under the aegis of the government.

Information control

Its aim is to control the flow of political information, especially now, on the eve of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. They want to eradicate any voices of opposition and create an atmosphere of unified praise for the Communist Party,” she said.

According to Chen Jianying of the association “China Internet Cafes Online”, the industry is taking steps to self-regulate.

“There will be more concrete measures coming in the future,” Chen said.

“Through such an organization and such an announcement, everyone is able to share information, including some aspects of Internet café management,” he said.

Meanwhile, online reports in central China said authorities at the prestigious Hunan University are developing and testing new online public opinion surveillance software.

Officials at the university were unable to confirm the reports, but they said such a project seemed likely.

“A lot of departments in Hunan University would be likely to be working on such a project,” said an employee who answered the phone at the Hunan University Information Technology department. “I don’t know which department it is, though.”

'Negative reports'

One piece of public opinion monitoring software, made by Beijing-based Goonie, said in its promotional material that it could monitor news posted on Web sites, blogs, and forums, as well as currents of public opinion on the entire Internet.

“[Goonie] is able to distinguish intelligently between illegal information on the Internet and to help you crack down on pornography, fake and erroneous information,” the company said in a promotional statement on its Web site.

“It automatically detects negative reports, ‘hot’ news events, and forum discussions.”

Zhu Ruifeng, editor-in-chief of the anti-corruption Web site Supervision by the People, said his Web site is frequently targeted for closure or by hackers, because of negative reports about government officials.

“A lot of citizens and ordinary people are going to the forums and posting reports, and expressing opinions of great dissatisfaction with the government and complaints right now,” Zhu said.

“Our Web site deals with anti-corruption, and it is blocked [by the authorities] every day. When they can’t block it, they get hackers to attack it. When the hackers can’t bring it down, we get an immediate notice that it will be closed from the supervisory office,” he added.

Authorities in the Chinese capital are on high alert ahead of lavish official celebrations of the Chinese Communist Party's 60th anniversary in power on Oct. 1, and police have rounded up migrant workers and petitioners and put pressure on writers and intellectuals not to publish anything critical of the government during the holiday period.

Toy Robots

Kids love to play. Girls or boys have its appropriate toys to play with. Girls played with dolls while boys played with toy car, toy guns and toy robots. But the most popular toy that kids want to play with is a robot toys.

Toy robot are a toys that played by kids. It’s a toy that looks like a robot, act like a robot and programmed like a robot. And this kind of toy has been very popular for how many years already, for the reason that children love to adore and admire their favorite robot characters they have seen in the television. But, nowadays, toy robots are not only for kids anymore. Lots of adult people are now playing a toy robot as one of their past times because for them it is fun and enjoyable to play.

There are many different types of robot toys, for young kids and for big boys. And the most expensive one are those robot toys who are fully functional that was made with mechanical attached with wires and other circuits. These mechanical toys are played by many big boys all around the globe. And the other robot toys that suit for kids are those programmable robot toys only. It does not cost too much that is why it is really suit for kids.

Star Wars Toys

Star wars is a popular science fiction movie that launch in the theatre. It has been views by many people all around the globe because of its very nice effects. And know what? Even children’s appreciate and like this movie because of its fighting scene with some flashing swords effect.

Since the movie became popular, lots of star wars toys are being manufactured. Delivered and displayed in many malls. And guess what, star wars really hit the highest market. Really admit that because of its popularity, all people love to collect the star wars stuff. Even children and old ones are now collecting star wars toys. Even the price is too high from the other toys; people are still keeping on buying them. And even until now that star wars movie already past away for a years. Star wars toys have been very important to them.

There are different kinds of star wars toys that all people love to have. Just like the most popular one is the sword that looks like with the star wars warrior, their mask and mostly those little cute figurines that looks like them. Little bet weird but mostly star wars fan are the one who collects them and display them in their room.

So, if you one of t star wars fans, why not start to collect now. You might get nothing at the end that you decided to star collecting. Remember its better to get late than never had anything in your hand.

Hiroshima engineers develop robotic carp

Ryomei Engineering (a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries), in cooperation with two other Hiroshima-area engineering companies, has developed a robot resembling a koi carp. The robot was demonstrated at a pond on the grounds of Hiroshima Machinery Works.

The robot is modeled after a Nishiki koi carp as a form of tribute to Hiroshima Castle (whose nickname Ri-jo means Koi Castle). The 80-cm (31-inch), 12-kg (26-pound) fish has a white body with bright red spots. Though the tail movement is very smooth and lifelike, the remote-controlled koi is capable of moves that a genuine koi is unable to perform, such as swimming in reverse and rotating in place.

The robot is Ryomei Engineering’s fifth in a line of fish robots that includes a sea bream, a prehistoric coelacanth, and a golden carp. New features added to the robotic koi include a CCD camera built into the head and sensors for analyzing water quality.

Sega's Sexy New Female Robot Sings, Dances, Kisses

Sexy is as sexy does... Sega's kissing robot!
If good things come in small packages, then Sega's E.M.A. (which stands for Eternal, Maiden, Actualization and is pronounced "Emma") must be very good indeed. Standing just over 15 inches / 38cm tall, the robot is undeniably female in appearance, actions and even attitude!

Sega designed E.M.A. to be feminine from the start. Unlike other, earlier attempts at designing female robots, E.M.A.'s "glamorous body" (so sez Sega) is curved and creased in all the right places, and by precisely articulating her moveable elbows, shoulders, knees and waist she can (again, Sega's words): "walk like a lady".

Of course, I saved the best for last - E.M.A. has a love mode that turns on once infrared sensors detect an undoubtedly blushing face nearby. The robot will then daintily tilt her head upwards and make a "kiss" sound - "chyu" in Japanese but cute nonetheless. E.M.A. is also programmed to hand out business cards... but you & I both know the love mode is going to get much more use.

E.M.A.'s onboard sensors are powered by batteries and, for those thinking about robocopping a feel, her body is crafted of tough, impact-resistant ABS plastic.

According to the Sega press release, E.M.A. is scheduled to be released in Japan this coming September 26 and will be priced at 18,900 yen (about $175) each. The target audience - adult, according to Sega (and mainly male, I'm guessing) - is expected to buy up to 10,000 fembots in the first year of sales availability. (via CrunchGear)

The Nissan Qashqai Dualis Robot Will Rule All Japan!

(Edit, to draft, Slurp)

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I swear to god, with my robot obsession, you'd swear I was Japanese. They're the only culture crazed over bots enough to hold me, much less contain me. I'd fit right in — if I weren't 6'3" and teeming with 'merican nationalist spirit. But still, the Japanese deserve the credit for merging automotive culture with the ultra-futuristic robotic stuff. And no company seems to be doing more of that right now than Nissan (or it's hetero life-mate Renault). Enter the Qashqai for the JDM. They're calling it the Dualis and they're marketing it as a "powered suit." Thus, the big honkin' robot that'll be on display at the Nissan Gallery from May 23 to June 13 in Tokyo. After that it'll be at the Sony Building from June 25 to July 1st. So if you live in Tokyo or plan on visiting, feel free to snap some pics so we aren't just stuck with the viral vid we've got below the jump. – Ray Wert