Category: Technology

This is the good stuff that makes the world go round.

Categories
General House Technology

The Hoopty DTV Antenna

If someone ever wanted to know what lengths I would go to in order to get high def TV programming, this is it.  With a large helping of PVC pipe, fittings, caps, a half mile of coax, an indoor FM antenna, a UHF/VHF combiner, some bolts, wing nuts, washers and a bonafide real antenna (DB2) I have produced this monster eyesore on my patio deck.

DTVAntenna

It points toward Sutro Tower where most of the Bay Area’s HDTV transmission antennas are located and it doesn’t do half bad, considering I’m more than 50 miles away.  It’s reasonably weatherproof and it doesn’t cost a fortune (at least not yet).  It picks up almost all the stations I care about and feeds them to my DirecTV HR20 and Windows Vista Media Center PC.  It is even reasonably wind-proof, as evidenced by recent 40+ MPH winds. 

In short, it seems to work pretty well even if it is sad to look at.

Categories
Rants Technology

AT&T / Cingular: The Final Insult

Today, as if things weren’t just swell enough (said with tongue firmly in cheek) AT&T ships me a bill for cellular service that took place in September. Funny how they conveniently forgot that I canceled that service on September 3rd.  Funnier still, seeing as because their deliberate degrading of the wireless network knocked me completely offline for the entire month of August and most of July.

The sad part is that they wanted another $40 just to part company with them, even though I had already done all the paperwork at the store back on September 3rd. After a lot of negotiation they grudgingly “decided” to offer me a refund.  They wanted to know if there was anything else they could do for me at the end of the call…. and I sat wondering “where’s my working phone service and credit for many years of being a loyal customer?”

Customer  service, indeed.

Categories
Rants Technology

Enough Already! Calm Down Apple Fanboys

I realized today, for about the hundredth time, that there is just way too much hype, marketing, and slickness and not enough reality around Apple and its products (and storied product launches).  I mean for crying out loud, this is a computer company that is at 5% world wide market share.  5%!   To put that into perspective, how much do you care about Via’s CPU’s (about 1% share), SiS’s GPU’s (about 3% share), or Polaroid’s HDTV’s (about 4% share).  These are all examples of others who play third fiddle in their respective markets, just like Apple does in the PC market.

Since the launch of the iPod and now the iPhone, people suddenly have this unrealistic expectation that the 5% really doesn’t matter, and that whenever any new product arrives (Apple TV or Mac Mini, anyone?) it is the greatest thing ever created.  Today is no exception, with a line refresh of the iPod products being heralded as practically the second coming of the technology universe.  I just don’t get it, and perhaps I never will.

Some people will call me an Apple hater, and to an extent, that’s fair.  But when your sole mass-market contribution to modern society is a portable music player and bloated music software client, can I help but be anything other than cynical?  I can applaud Steve Jobs for his tight, consumer focused marketing and unbelievable press “reality distortion field”, but at the same time I feel sorry for those innovators who work around him, who are invariably cast aside, ideas crushed, as he marches ahead with his deity-like world view.

Categories
Rants Technology

AT&T Sucks (and so I'm done with them)

I finally found the final straw, the thing that sent me over the edge and made me get rid of AT&T after so many years of suffering. AT&T (the wireless provider) decided that…

1. my phone no longer will work on their network

2. that my calling plan is not what they want to provide any longer

3. that the new plan they wish to offer should cost much more

4. that I should pay for both a new phone AND a two year contract for the privilege of keeping their company

This, then, would be the final chapter in the long and torrid tale that has been my business arrangement with AT&T (or Cingular, or AT&T Wireless, or Cellular One, take your pick). Rather than attempt to work with me on a better plan, the ability to remain month-to-month (as I have been for years), or to allow me to reduce to a lower plan without the two year commitment they flatly told me that it was their way or no way.

I took no way, and now for the first time in many, many years I am cell phone-less. While I press on with my search for a better phone and a more tolerant provider, I give you the latest incarnation of the AT&T logo to ponder over.

Categories
Rants Review Technology Work

The "Fun" That is Windows Media Center and Xbox 360

Recently I went through a setup related exercise for work where I needed to get a Windows Media Center PC to talk to a Media Center Extender. An extender in Microsoft’s view is a device that attaches to a TV and enables interacting with a Media Center UI without the PC actually having to be in the same room as the TV. There have been a few of these devices shipping for a couple of years so I thought this would be a cakewalk. Boy was I wrong, really wrong.

I spend nearly two hours hooking up the Media Center PCs to my home network, getting them to see each other, display on the TV, then share content amongst themselves. Once that got done I added the Xbox 360 as my “extender” and had it talk to both Media Centers, as well as my home server PC. And next thing I knew another three hours was gone. I had very little to show for this time warp, other than a lot of cabling, noisy boxes, and a rather sore backside (me with the hardwood floors and all). In the end, I did get music, photos, and video up and running on the Xbox 360, but only from one Media Center PC at a time.

It seems that the Xbox 360 can only talk to one version of Media Center at a time. Trying to get two of them to cooperate, both an XP and the Vista version, met with utter failure or a host of “go to this web site, download some stuff, then come back and try again” messages. It was painful and I think I know why no one tries this at home. If I had to buy this stuff on my own I certainly would have taken it back for a refund by now.

It all works now, and I’m on my way to understanding how the different boxes work (or don’t) together. But my quick lessons are: one Media Center is all you need, sharing is tough, and PC’s don’t always love TV displays. Oh, and that the Xbox 360 is the noisiest thing I’ve ever heard in the living room.

Xbox 360

Categories
Review Technology Web Links

Google Picasa Web Album

I had a chance today to fiddle around with yet another Google beta product: Picasa Web Albums. It is the best demo yet of a blend of local (PC based) applications and web site integration with AJAX.

What this all means is that you can add photos from a web page, from an application, or from an email to your photo album any time you want. It’s pretty nifty. Take a look at the progress so far.

Categories
Rants Technology

The Day the PSP Fell Down

It is with some sadness that I must write today that my PSP’s analog joystick has died. Quite simply, it separated itself from the main body of the device and ceased working. This was proceeded by the joystick becoming stuck, spinning my character in circles for the better part of a game, and the other players in the game using me as easy target practice.

Given that I work for the company that makes this device, it seems well and truly sad that such a spot of bad luck would befall my purchase. The PSP is only a few months old and already its headed to the RMA depot. I can only hope that the refurb unit they send me lasts longer than this one did, lest my thumbs again gain feeling and my days become longer with the extra time spent away from GTA.

Categories
Rants Review Technology

The Tale of the Harmony 880 Remote

I recently became the owner of a new smart remote control, the Logitech Harmony 880 via a friend of mine who will remain nameless (he knows who he is).  After months of pain with the previous remote, the Philips Pronto NG (I think the NG stood for “not good”) I was ready to switch to something better.  The Harmony 880 looked to be the ticket.

To be fair, I was warned that the setup process for the 880 would be a little, um, rough.  The warning was correct.  It was an unholy terror to setup the remote due to a few factors, which I will now dutifully list:

  • All of the software needed to program the remote is on the web, literally. There is no software on the PC, it is all run remotely from a browser.  This brings with it all the pain (timeouts, 404s, constant refreshes) of normal Web 1.0 browsing with none of the benefit.
  • You have to know exactly what the model name and number is of every component you own.  Simply knowing you have a Sony DVD player is not enough, and it leads you to hunt around for all of your manuals to be sure the name is correct.
  • The “activities” are fixed in function by the web site.  If you don’t like the order or devices the “activity wizard” decides to drop in each button, well tough.  That’s the way it works.
  • God forbid one of your devices doesn’t work properly, as then you’ll suffer through the pain of the “help wizard” on the remote control itself.  This hellish process involves the remote constantly asking “is product XYZ turned on now?  How about now?  Is it working now?” until you give up and go online to try it all again.

If you get lucky, like I did about the 99th time I tinkered with the web site settings (their “software” evidently hates my Sony AV receiver) when you detach the remote from your PC, things work and you are in happy, happy entertainment land.  If it doesn’t, be prepared to spend a long time on the web site changing settings.

Once this remote gets working its actually quite nice, with a large set of hard buttons and a fairly nice (though narrow viewing angle) screen.  The market that Logitech seems to be aiming this at is the do-it-yourself home theater owner who knows next to nothing about PCs and remote controls.  I’m not sure the overly simplistic approach they take with the on-the-web setup is the right one, but perhaps I’m just used to more control. 

When you think about it, that’s what remotes are all about: control.  And when it gets taken away from me for the purposes of ease-of-use I just cringe.  Perhaps as I spend more time with this remote I’ll grow to accept its “features” but for now I’m a bit grumpy over the whole experience.

Categories
Music Technology

Multi-room audio coolness

After a little searching around (OK, a lot of searching) I’ve found a solution to help kick music around throughout the homestead with only a little fussing.  The equation works like this:

Roku SoundBridge + SlimServer 6.2.1 + SoftSqueeze PC client + MP3s = whole house synchronized* audio

I have to put the * caveat in because the Roku really doesn’t handle sync terrifically.  But it does it well enough to walk around the house and hear the same song everywhere at nearly the same time.  Considering the extra cash outlay was zero, its not a bad solution.

Now, when am I going to get some more of these devices?

Categories
General Technology

The PSP is taking over

I held off for a while, but I now own a PSP.  While this is not totally unexpected, given my employer, what is surprising is the speed at which it has consumed my personal time. 

This is due in large part to the PSP’s WiFi abilities.  You see, it can browse most web pages and stream music wirelessly.  This means I can listen to virtually any podcast anywhere I go, as well as any music I happen to find.  Combined with GTA I find less and less free time on my hands.

The next step for me, obviously, is to setup some PSP specific web pages to stream my own MP3 collection, as well as make it easier to get to the information I want. I hope I can do it soon, though, as I really don’t do well on less and less sleep.