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Is your beer vegan?

March 20th, 2012 . Posted in Vegan | No Comments »
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This may come as an odd question considering that beers are made of  wheat, hops, and barley but it appears that many beers are indeed not vegan.

There’s the obvious honey lagers that aren’t vegan, but it appears there are several beers that aren’t considered vegan for 1 simple reason; the refining process and the materials  used.

It appears that many beers use either gelatin (from animal skin and bone) or isinglass (fish bladders) as a clarifying agent. Vegan friendly beers use seaweeds instead.

So how can one tell? The answer is a great website called barnivore.com. The site is a collaborative effort of people contacting different companies and inquiring whether their beverages are vegan or not.

Simply head over to barnivore.com and enter your beverage of choice. If it’s in their database (of over 6000 entries), you’ll get a green or red status on whether the drink is vegan or not. The site’s database not only includes beer, but also wines and liquors.

Now you can drink away with a clean concience.

Windows: How to use RDP on servers when all sessions are used

March 7th, 2012 . Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
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A quicky but a helpful one or those who RDP Windows servers often.

Typically a server can have 2 simultaneous RDP connections. This can frustrate when you need to get on the server for a reason and the two connections are peopoe who aren’t reachable.

There are actually 3 available connections but the third is reserved for admins. To access it this option, go to the Windows run command and type “mstsc /admin”. This will bring up the RDP window like usual but the connection will be for admin.

Windows: How to Download an Individual Security Patch

March 6th, 2012 . Posted in Windows | No Comments »
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A coworker of mine asked if there was a way to download a specific patch for Windows. At first thought I figured a simple Google search of the KB##### of the patch would bring me to the patch notes and a download link to the individual patch. Well I was wrong, however I did find a way to do so.

First thing, head to http://catalog.update.microsoft.com/v7/site/home.aspx. This is Microsoft’s repository of their patches. You can search by keywords of what you are looking for but my recommendation is to find out the MS##-### you require as it narrows it down (to find that out, search by KB##### and the related article should indicate the MS##-### in the title).

Once you have your results, select “Add” to the Windows version you require the patch. This will add it to your basket.

Once you have all the patches you want, click on the basket. This will list out all the patches you are about to download. Click Download.

The next screen asks where to download all the files. Simply browse a location and click go.

Then let it download and you’ll have a local copy of the patch(es) you want.

Atmosphere Deluxe

February 29th, 2012 . Posted in Software | No Comments »
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Wanted to write a quick post about this application. Atmosphere Deluxe is a ambient sound generator that allows you to make any soundscape you want. Feel like hearing a crackling fire during a clear night sky with crickets? Or how about a rainstorm in a cottage by the lake? With this software you can pick the sounds you want to hear as well as the frequency of certain sounds and it’s volume.

The software comes with built-in sounds scenes or you can design your own. You can also record your scene to MP3 files or to a CD.

The software also has a brainwave feature:

Atmosphere Deluxe has a fully configurable binaural generator which can help adjust your brainwaves to specific frequencies which can aid with relaxation or concentration

You can find out more about the software, as well as download a Lite version for free or try the Full version for 21 days at http://www.vectormediasoftware.com/atmdeluxehome.htm

Sadly it’s Windows only and cannot be run in Linux with Wine as it requires some Direct X for sound (I tried).

Note: I was not paid by VectorMedia Software for this post. I simply enjoy this software enough to mention it.

Reasons I’m Minimizing my Possessions

February 29th, 2012 . Posted in Minimalism | No Comments »
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For the last couple of years I’ve slowly been minimizing my possessions. This was an idea that stuck with me after reading a few articles on the submit at the time. At first I saw it simply as a hipster movement, yet as time went on I started to understand why it made sense.

For those who want to understand why I’m pursuing this, here are some reasons:

  • Appreciation for the things I do keep.
  • Clear clutter for better concentration. (I keep a clutterfree desk, at work and home)
  • Clear clutter for less mess to clean and put away. (less I have, less to clean, sort, maintain)
  • My pursuit in Buddhism and my disconnection with materialistic items.
  • To not be a consumerist. (spend to spend)

These are a few reasons I can think of quickly as I write this post.

For point #1, one of the biggest things for me was the clutter of my video game collection. For the longest time I couldn’t understand that there will be more video games I want to play then there is time to play them. This is even more so considering my favorite genre being RPG (role playing games, a.k.a. quest games) which can suck up loads of your time (Skyrim has taken 60+ hours of my time so far).

I would buy many games when on sale and put them aside in hopes to play them later. What would happen is other games would come out and I wouldn’t get to the games I purchased, and the list would stack up. Sometimes I would recognize this and try to rush through games quickly to beat them but I would miss out on truly enjoying the games. Now I actively try to reduce my game collection. It’s still a work in progress but it’s 2/3 less than what it was.

Basically, by having less things I spend more time on the more important things without distraction of the other things. I save money by avoiding fruitless spending and I save time from cleaning or sorting things.

Something to remember; We are not what we own, and the things we own shouldn’t define us.

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