HD Lesson Learned...

This past Sunday was Day #1 of the 4 Hour Season Premier of 24. A couple of weeks ago I searched for 24 in my DirecTV HD DVR (HR-20) and saw several listings (it's in reruns on other channels) so I found the new shows on FOX and set it to record as a series. Great, I thought... now I won't have to worry about it.

Except...

DirecTV carries both the HD and SD versions of Chicago local channels...

HD= 32 WFLD
SD= 32 FOX

I apparently picked the Standard Definition version because when I finally sat down to watch 24 on Sunday night, I was greatly disappointed that it was in SD. So much so that I deleted it without watching.

Now, thanks to the 'gray area' of the internet I was able to download the 2 episodes via Bit torrent and put them on my new 2GB SanDisk Cruzer Thumbdrive (Thanks again Darren!)

And.. thanks to the USB port on my Philips Upconverting DVD Player, all I had to do was plug the thumb drive into the DVD Player and I was all set to watch.

Now, it certainly doesn't look as good or sound as good as full HD but for a little 350MB file (per episode), it's very impressive on my Samsung 26" LCD and beats the pants off of regular SD.

This is just a warning to all of you HD newbies out there, especially with DirecTV... they certainly don't make it as easy as it should be. And the HR-20 is no TiVo. It's like TiVo's retarded cousin :(

"Four Blind Mice" by James Patterson

Audible.com Summary:

Detective Alex Cross is on his way to resign from the Washington, D.C. Police Force when his partner shows up at his door with a case he can't refuse. One of John Sampson's oldest friends, from their days together in Vietnam, has been arrested for murder. Worse yet, he is subject to the iron hand of the United States Army. The evidence against him is strong enough to send him to the gas chamber.

Sampson is certain his friend has been framed, and Alex's investigation turns up evidence overlooked - or concealed - by the military authorities. Drawing on their years of street training and an almost telepathic mutual trust, Cross and Sampson go deep behind military lines to confront the most ruthless - and deadliest - killers they have ever encountered. Behind these three highly skilled killing machines there appears to be an even more threatening controller. Discovering the identity of this lethal genius will prove to be Cross' most terrifying challenge ever.

On his visits home, Alex must confront another, more disturbing mystery: what's the matter with Nana Mama? As he explores the possibility of a relationship with a woman who offers him new hope, Alex must also face the fact that his beloved grandmother is only human.

I just finished this book this morning on the way to work. I was much more in tune with this book than the last one for some reason. That's not to knock "Violets are Blue" but I noticed that I didn't have to backup and re-listen to portions as much as I did with "violets"

I don't want to spoil anything but there are some large events that happen in this book. A must read for the Alex Cross fan!

As far as the production... this is the first Alex Cross novel that I've finished that had some audio effects & music. It was a bit distracting at first but I grew to like it.

Author: James Patterson
Narrator: Peter J. Fernandez and Michael Emerson
Running Time: 8 hours 7 min.
Book Rating: ****
Production: ****
(out of 5 stars)

Audiobook
Paperback

My first experience with Abt Electronics...

So I've been looking all over hell and back for a specific model of a Home Theater In-a-Box for the bedroom.

I needed a system that would meet certain requirements...

1. Budget = $300
2. Speakers will fit under the TV (so they can't be on a stand)
3. A good brand
4. Good reviews
5. Does not include a DVD player since I already have one
6. Has at least 4 inputs

The Sony HT-DDW900 stuck out to me since it met all 6 requirements but also had HDMI passthrough which will basically add an additional HDMI port for me. (which will be a good thing if I get Apple TV for the bedroom.

So, the decision on which model to buy was easy. Finding said model? Not so much...

Amazon = backorder till March, Best Buy = sold out, Circuit City = out of stock, Wal-Mart = out of stock, B&H = taking orders (for next shipment), J&R = out of stock...

I even looked at those price grabber sites! There were a few companies that listed them as in stock but since I've never heard of them, I won't shop there.

Then I noticed that Abt Electronics had it in stock. I've been to Abt once in 2003 during an extended lunch break with Debbie. It's real impressive on the inside. A place that's right up my alley. But as prices go, they're on commission (which I don't like) and their prices aren't that good unless you go through the hassle of beating them up on the price.

Since they're semi-local... to my office anyway, I called them using their Chicagoland phone number and worked my way through their system to Sales. A woman named Karen picked up. I asked her to confirm that they do indeed have them and asked her if she would price match. She said they were in stock and they do price match. I gave her Amazon's price of $249 and she said she would match it. (but I'd have to pay tax on it) I told her I'd be in during lunch to pick one up.

An hour or so later, I drove to Abt (about 15 min away) and headed to the cashier's desk. They in turn pawned me off on the audio dept. and I gave them the model number. They audio guy said that the computer said they have 2 in stock but when the stock is so low, the computer's usually wrong and they don't have any.

He was trying to send me on my way... he didn't really want to help me. I asked him if they could physically check the warehouse to see. He said okay and he called, gave them the model # and waited for a call back.

A few minutes later they called back and said they didn't have any. I asked if they had any on order... he checked.... they have 3 PO's in for them but Sony had problems keeping up with demand with the holiday season I guess.

I left... I was upset since I pissed away a bunch of my lunch driving there. (and back)

So... my first experience was poor.

A couple of days later I began to check again to see if any one's inventory has changed. And again, Abt showed it as in stock. Abt has this live sales support chat thing built into their website. So I decided to use it...

Craig: Can you verify if you physically have the Sony HT-DDW900 in stock. I drove up to you guys on Monday and you didn't. Your site still says you do.

I meant Tuesday

A representative will be with you in about 5 minutes.

[Brian English - A representative has joined the session.]

Brian English: Welcome to AbtElectronics.com Live Sales Support - Online Help

Brian English: You were here this past Monday?

A question only meant to blow off mine with minimal effort.

Craig: yes

Brian English: We haven't received any since Monday, so if they didn't have it then, we still won't

Craig: inventory said 2 in stock but I was told the inventory was inaccurate... you didn't have any. Not even a floor model

Craig: ok

Craig: you should probably change your site to not show it "In Stock"... it's misleading

Yes, so some to spare another customer from wasting a lunch.

Then... 10 minutes after I signed off, I received the e-mailed transcript of the conversation and was just going to delete it but I noticed this line at the bottom...

Brian English: Still here Craig? We have located the 2 units that are in stock

[Brian English - user has closed this session]

So, I replied to his e-mail...

Brian,

Are you absolutely positive you located them? I wasted my entire lunch driving up from Buffalo Grove and back earlier this week and I do not want to do that again!

A completely reasonable request to have them double check.

Before I drove up, I spoke to Karen who answered the number on your website. She verified the stock and said she would match amazon.com's price of $249 on this item.

If you confirm 100% that I can grab one of the ones in stock, I will drive over during lunch again today... but for my trouble I think you guys should also eat the tax on this. So I can be out the door for $249.

I believe completely reasonable since it was their fault I did waste a lunch + gas and the tax would only be around $20

Let me know.

27 minutes later, I received this once sentence reply...

I personally saw them. They are there.

Please note the lack of answering all of my questions.
Then I replied...

Excellent! Can you put one on hold for me and I'll be there in the 1 o'clock hour to buy it?

What did you find out about the pricing?

$249.00 out the door okay?

Then 46 minutes later, yet another 1 sentence reply...

I would recommend contacting your saleperson (sic), Karen, regarding pricing.

Then I replied...

Okay.. I will do that. Can you put one aside for me for the next 2 hours or so?

At this point, he didn't feel like replying anymore.

So, I called Karen and left her a voice mail to call me. An hour went by without a call back and it was getting real close to lunch time and I needed to know if I was going there or not. So I called again. This time I got her. For some reason she seemed rather defensive. I refreshed her memory about the price match, explained to her what happened on Tuesday. She told me that they DID have them on Tuesday but apparently the dude in the audio section was too lazy to look for it himself. Since she admitted this, I asked her if there's anything she can do price wise for me due to the wasted lunch. She was I was already getting $50 off the price with the price match and that was the best they could do. I would have to pay tax.

I asked if she could hold one for me. She said I could place an order and have it 'will call' when I get there. I begrudgingly agreed.

So, yes I'm an asshole for even buying anything there after they wasted my time but no one else had what I needed, so I bent over and took it up the ass like a good little American consumer.

Will I go there again? Yes... Like I said, it's really cool looking and there's a lot of stuff to see.

Will I buy anything from them? Unless their price is extremely low, I doubt it. And since you have to wheel & deal with their default high pricing, I seriously doubt it.

Follow up: I just got an e-mail from Circuit City informing me that they now have it in stock (mail order only) Figures.

Say Hello to the iPhone and Apple TV...

Here's the official Apple Press Release...

MACWORLD SAN FRANCISCO—January 9, 2007—Apple® today introduced iPhone, combining three products—a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod® with touch controls, and a breakthrough Internet communications device with desktop-class email, web browsing, searching and maps—into one small and lightweight handheld device. iPhone introduces an entirely new user interface based on a large multi-touch display and pioneering new software, letting users control iPhone with just their fingers. iPhone also ushers in an era of software power and sophistication never before seen in a mobile device, which completely redefines what users can do on their mobile phones.

“iPhone is a revolutionary and magical product that is literally five years ahead of any other mobile phone,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We are all born with the ultimate pointing device—our fingers—and iPhone uses them to create the most revolutionary user interface since the mouse.”

iPhone is a Revolutionary Mobile Phone
iPhone is a revolutionary new mobile phone that allows users to make calls by simply pointing at a name or number. iPhone syncs all of your contacts from your PC, Mac® or Internet service such as Yahoo!, so that you always have your full list of up-to-date contacts with you. In addition, you can easily construct a favorites list for your most frequently made calls, and easily merge calls together to create conference calls.

iPhone’s pioneering Visual Voicemail, an industry first, lets users look at a listing of their voicemails, decide which messages to listen to, then go directly to those messages without listening to the prior messages. Just like email, iPhone’s Visual Voicemail enables users to immediately randomly access those messages that interest them most.

iPhone includes an SMS application with a full QWERTY soft keyboard to easily send and receive SMS messages in multiple sessions. When users need to type, iPhone presents them with an elegant touch keyboard which is predictive to prevent and correct mistakes, making it much easier and more efficient to use than the small plastic keyboards on many smartphones. iPhone also includes a calendar application that allows calendars to be automatically synced with your PC or Mac.

iPhone features a 2 megapixel camera and a photo management application that is far beyond anything on a phone today. Users can browse their photo library, which can be easily synced from their PC or Mac, with just a flick of a finger and easily choose a photo for their wallpaper or to include in an email.

iPhone is a quad-band GSM phone which also features EDGE and Wi-Fi wireless technologies for data networking. Apple has chosen Cingular, the best and most popular carrier in the US with over 58 million subscribers, to be Apple’s exclusive carrier partner for iPhone in the US.

iPhone is a Widescreen iPod
iPhone is a widescreen iPod with touch controls that lets music lovers “touch” their music by easily scrolling through entire lists of songs, artists, albums and playlists with just a flick of a finger. Album artwork is stunningly presented on iPhone’s large and vibrant display.

iPhone also features Cover Flow, Apple’s amazing way to browse your music library by album cover artwork, for the first time on an iPod. When navigating your music library on iPhone, you are automatically switched into Cover Flow by simply rotating iPhone into its landscape position.

iPhone’s stunning 3.5-inch widescreen display offers the ultimate way to watch TV shows and movies on a pocketable device, with touch controls for play-pause, chapter forward-backward and volume. iPhone plays the same videos purchased from the online iTunes® Store that users enjoy watching on their computers and iPods, and will soon enjoy watching on their widescreen televisions using the new Apple TV™. The iTunes Store now offers over 350 television shows, over 250 feature films and over 5,000 music videos.

iPhone lets users enjoy all their iPod content, including music, audiobooks, audio podcasts, video podcasts, music videos, television shows and movies. iPhone syncs content from a user’s iTunes library on their PC or Mac, and can play any music or video content they have purchased from the online iTunes store.

iPhone is a Breakthrough Internet Communications Device
iPhone features a rich HTML email client which fetches your email in the background from most POP3 or IMAP mail services and displays photos and graphics right along with the text. iPhone is fully multi-tasking, so you can be reading a web page while downloading your email in the background.

Yahoo! Mail, the world’s largest email service with over 250 million users, is offering a new free “push” IMAP email service to all iPhone users that automatically pushes new email to a user’s iPhone, and can be set up by simply entering your Yahoo! name and password. iPhone will also work with most industry standard IMAP and POP based email services, such as Microsoft Exchange, Apple .Mac Mail, AOL Mail, Google Gmail and most ISP mail services.

iPhone also features the most advanced and fun-to-use web browser on a portable device with a version of its award-winning Safari™ web browser for iPhone. Users can see any web page the way it was designed to be seen, and then easily zoom in to expand any section by simply tapping on iPhone’s multi-touch display with their finger. Users can surf the web from just about anywhere over Wi-Fi or EDGE, and can automatically sync their bookmarks from their PC or Mac. iPhone’s Safari web browser also includes built-in Google Search and Yahoo! Search so users can instantly search for information on their iPhone just like they do on their computer.

iPhone also includes Google Maps, featuring Google’s groundbreaking maps service and iPhone’s amazing maps application, offering the best maps experience by far on any pocket device. Users can view maps, satellite images, traffic information and get directions, all from iPhone’s remarkable and easy-to-use touch interface.

iPhone’s Advanced Sensors
iPhone employs advanced built-in sensors—an accelerometer, a proximity sensor and an ambient light sensor—that automatically enhance the user experience and extend battery life. iPhone’s built-in accelerometer detects when the user has rotated the device from portrait to landscape, then automatically changes the contents of the display accordingly, with users immediately seeing the entire width of a web page, or a photo in its proper landscape aspect ratio.

iPhone’s built-in proximity sensor detects when you lift iPhone to your ear and immediately turns off the display to save power and prevent inadvertent touches until iPhone is moved away. iPhone’s built-in ambient light sensor automatically adjusts the display’s brightness to the appropriate level for the current ambient light, thereby enhancing the user experience and saving power at the same time.

Pricing & Availability
iPhone will be available in the US in June 2007, Europe in late 2007, and Asia in 2008, in a 4GB model for $499 (US) and an 8GB model for $599 (US), and will work with either a PC or Mac. iPhone will be sold in the US through Apple’s retail and online stores, and through Cingular’s retail and online stores. Several iPhone accessories will also be available in June, including Apple’s new remarkably compact Bluetooth headset.

iPhone includes support for quad-band GSM, EDGE, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0 EDR wireless technologies.

iPhone requires a Mac with a USB 2.0 port, Mac OS® X v10.4.8 or later and iTunes 7; or a Windows PC with a USB 2.0 port and Windows 2000 (Service Pack 4), Windows XP Home or Professional (Service Pack 2). Internet access is required and a broadband connection is recommended. Apple and Cingular will announce service plans for iPhone before it begins shipping in June.

More info from Apple here.

See a video showing off the Multi Touch Gesture Interface on a larger scale.
Here.

My first impression is that this is the coolest phone I've ever seen and I want one immediately! But at second glance, there will be a 5 month wait for it it I have plenty of time to talk myself out of a $600 purchase.

Then again, my last PDA broke and I could use another one.... my 3G iPod is on it's last leg and I could use another one... and my new cell phone was free so I wouldn't feel bad about replacing it. We shall see what happens in June.


Here's the official Apple Press Release...

MACWORLD SAN FRANCISCO—January 9, 2007—Apple® today premiered Apple TV™, an easy to use and fun way to wirelessly play all your favorite iTunes® content from your Mac® or PC on your widescreen TV, including movies, TV shows, music, photos and podcasts. Using Apple TV’s stunning new interface, anyone can quickly browse and view their entire collection of digital media from across the room using the simple and intuitive Apple Remote. Apple TV easily connects to almost all modern widescreen televisions, and will be shipping in February for just $299.

“Apple TV is like a DVD player for the 21st century—you connect it to your entertainment system just like a DVD player, but it plays digital content you get from the Internet rather than DVDs you get from a physical store,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Apple TV plays the same iTunes content that users enjoy on their computers and iPods, so now they can even watch part of a movie in their living room, and watch the rest later on their iPod.”

Apple TV has a 40GB hard drive to store up to 50 hours of video, 9,000 songs, 25,000 photos or a combination of each and is capable of delivering high-definition 720p output.* Apple TV is easy to connect to a broad range of widescreen TVs and home theater systems and comes standard with HDMI, component video, analog and optical audio ports. Using high-speed AirPort® 802.11** wireless networking, Apple TV can auto-sync content from one computer or stream content from up to five additional computers right to your TV without any wires.***

The seamless integration of Apple TV and iTunes lets users choose from over 250 feature-length movies and 350 TV shows in near DVD quality; four million songs, 5,000 music videos, 100,000 podcasts and 20,000 audiobooks. Users can enjoy their favorite music on a home entertainment system and view slideshows of their photo albums on a widescreen TV. Apple TV makes it easy for users to explore their entire media collection with an easy to use and intuitive new interface. With the Apple Remote, consumers can easily browse through their favorite movies, TV shows, music and photos from up to 30 feet away.

Pricing & Availability
Apple TV, which includes the Apple Remote, will be shipping in February through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $299 (US).

Apple TV requires iTunes 7 or later running on a Mac with Mac OS® X version 10.3.9 or later, or a Windows PC with Windows XP Home/Professional (SP2). An 802.11b/g/n wireless network using AirPort, AirPort Extreme® or 10/100 Base-T Ethernet networking required. Internet access is required and a broadband connection is recommended. Apple TV requires an enhanced-definition or high-definition widescreen TV. iPod® games will not play on Apple TV. iTunes is available in the US and select countries.

*Video playback based on 640x480 iTunes video content. Music capacity based on four minutes per song and 128-Kbps AAC encoding. Photo capacity based on Apple TV viewable photos transferred from iTunes. Actual capacity varies by content.

**Compatible with 802.11b/g/n. Based on an IEEE 802.11n draft specification.

***Wireless video streaming requires an 802.11g/n network.

More info from Apple here.

I still need to find out exactly what this thing can and can't do. Seems a Mac Mini could also fit my need for this plus I'll get the added advantage of a computer in the home theater. More later.

The MacWorld 2007 Keynote is about a 1/2 hour away...

I expect the iPhone & iTV will be introduced. What I'd really like to see is the widescreen iPod video and a better, more expandable MacMini.

Bored? Why not dress Steve Jobs up for the keynote!

Goodbye iBlog, Hello Blogger...

Yes, I've neglected my blog. If it were a child, it would be dead. If it were a puppy it would have run away. I'm going to change that, but let me explain first.

I've neglected my blog mainly because of the iBlog software (for my mac) that I started my blog with over 3 years ago. iBlog restricts me to posting only from home (since that's the only place that I have access to a mac)... and to tell ya the truth, I'd post a lot more often if I could do it from anywhere.

I've spent a lot of time looking for a solution to my blogging problem. While iBlog was a great free beginners tool for me, overall it was a large pain in the ass! Hard to format pics, easy to backup but hard as hell to restore it 100%.

So... the search was on for a web based solution that would meet my needs.

I looked at SEVERAL solutions. My Space, Vox, Serendipity, WordPress, Drupal, TypePad, Movable Type, LiveJournal, Blogger, etc.

Features I was looking for...

*Ability to make a few categories within the same blog
*Ability to add images inline with the text
*Minimal or no ads
*Ability to search
*Not My Space like
*Web interface so I didn't have to install anything

Blogger, now owned by Google (and I love google) was the perfect solution. I just wish I found it first instead of pissing away all that time trying the other solutions I listed above!

With Blogger, I can update from home, from work, from my cell phone, from pretty much ANYWHERE I can get some sort of internet access!

Once I decided on Blogger, I soon had to come to a decision. Start from square one or transfer over all of the posts from my old blog? There was a lot of good content in the old blog (at least I think so) and it would be a shame to just ignore it all so I decided to transfer everything over.

That's not an easy task. It's not like there's a "transfer from iBlog" button here. It has to be done manually with every post.

So, I've spent the vast majority of the past weekend slowly copying, pasting, re-adding links & pictures to over 300 posts from the iBlog days.

Was it worth it? You decide... I'm just glad it's done.

ABC 7 Chicago + HDTV = ?

I recorded the morning news, the 5pm news and the evening news. The morning show wasn't in high def, the others were.

Chicagoland news has never looked so good! It looks great! I was very impressed with the weather graphics! At the 1/2 way point in each broadcast they talked about the upgrade.

I don't normally watch the evening news but from now on, I'll tell my HD-DVR to record it nightly just in case I want to watch.

ABC 7 Chicago + HDTV = The best looking news in Chicago!

Now only if we could get the media to drop its liberal & anti-gun bias!

A great lunch...

After heading to the mall to do some shopping (Nick bought Guitar Hero 2 & Alyssa bought clothes + a purse) it was time to find a place for a late lunch. Since we were at the mall, my default answer of course was Famous Dave's but since the kids just had it for dinner the night before with their grandparents we looked elsewhere, Valerie suggested Go Roma. I've never been there. She insisted that there was one in Crystal Lake.

We couldn't find it... so after she wasted the $20 or what ever the hell asinine price it is to call 411 with Cingular she was informed that there isn't one with 10 miles of us. We wanted to try something new to us... so we headed to Noodles & Co.

It's a good thing the restaurant was pretty much empty because we must have looked like a bunch of idiots just standing in front of the counter for several minutes to read the description of everything and decide what to get. The manager walked by and asked us if we needed any help, I said, "Not yet."

A few minutes later she asked again if we needed help and asked if we've been to Noodles & Co. before. We told her this was our first time. She went out of her way to explain how things worked there. She even noted that you can change around pretty much everything. Add an ingredient(s), leave one (or several) out. She was very polite, very informative. After we figured out what we wanted we ordered. I ordered the Penne Rosa, Valerie got the Mushroom Stroganoff and the kids ordered Buttered Noodles. The food was excellent. She checked back on us while we were eating to make sure everything was okay and she gave us 2 "Try us for free" coupons which are basically worth a free meal. "So you can try something new the next time you come in." Nice! Oh yeah... and they have Miller Lite, which is always an easy way to win me over.

It was a very nice lunch... We will certainly be going back!

How many times have you heard Canon in D?

A lot more than you think!



I really love this video... he's very talented and being a fan of Canon in D, I find that this is very clever comedy! It's amazing how many songs use the same damn chords. I'd love to see more of Rob's work.

ABC 7 Chicago to go all HD Tomorrow!

December 14, 2006 - ABC 7 Chicago will become the first and only television station in the market to broadcast its entire local news and programming line-up in High Definition television beginning, January 6, 2007 it was announced today by Emily Barr, President and General Manger, ABC 7.

According to Barr, "We are proud to once again lead the way in cutting edge technology by being the first station in town to broadcast local news and programming in high definition. Just like the transition from black and white to color, HD broadcasting infuses a sense of excitement for our viewers. As the Chicago station with the most HD local programming, ABC7's audience will enjoy the "wow" factor that comes with such a high quality viewing experience."

This cutting edge conversion of 4:3 Standard Definition television to 16:9 High Definition television translates to 33 hours of weekly local news in vivid, crystal clear pictures.

ABC7 will provide more hours of HD programming than any other television station in the market. In addition to HD local newscasts, ABC7's High Definition broadcast of local news, sports, entertainment and community focused programming and specials, combined with its extensive network and syndication HD lineup, will make ABC7 "Chicago's premiere HD station."

Whole Story Here.