Too much technology

If I needed proof I have too much technology in my home, my 10 year old made it crystal clear this evening. Cassidy wanted to watch a TV show in my office on our Samsung.  I have it set to cycle through the High-Definition stations only with the antenna setting set to over the air.  You have to switch the antenna setting to Cable to get all the stations available in our other rooms that are connected to our basic cable.  Anyway, she couldn’t find the station she wanted.  She DID know how to use the XBOX360 connected to the Samsung to access  Windows Media Center on my PC.  So she fired THAT up, selected My TV and promptly began streaming Live TV from the PC (with a TV tuner card) to the XBOX so she can watch it on our HDTV which is also connected to cable! Caramba!

HDTV: The Facts and Fiction of 1080p

The Facts and Fiction of 1080p

What is better, 720p or 1080i? This has been a topic of discussion for
a long time. If only taking into account the technical aspects, the
answer is simple. 720p is better than 1080i.

720p is better than 1080i in HDTV because the highest 1080 line formats
(1080i60 and 1080p30) as defined in the ATSC standard, deliver only a
few more pixels per second than the highest 720p variant (720p60).

1080i delivers a higher quality visual when static images are
broadcasted. As soon as you have fast changes in the visuals, 720p look
as good or better than 1080i.

Is 1080p essential?  Not really.  If you already own an HDTV, don’t feel that you’ve thrown your money out the window.   
Moving forward, getting a 1080p display that can accept 1080p signals
will be crucial for enjoying next-generation DVD movies and games at
their maximum resolution.

1080p is supported on the XBOX with this XBOX software upgrade.  I don’t have anything that outputs 1080p.  I would have to purchase a HD-DVD drive and game or movies created for 1080p.  My TV doesn’t even support 1080p.  Something to look forward to with my second HDTV purchase!

XBOX 360 & Elite

In light of this weeks announcement about the new XBOX Elite, I thought I’d post about my recent XBOX 360 experience.  I picked up a used XBOX 360 on Craig’s list about three weeks ago.  It was a bundle with tons of accessories and I have been extremely pleased with the system. 

The system is a Core with a hard disk added.  It included component cables, a wireless adapter (though I have the box wired to my network), a plug-and-play adapter for the wireless controller, an extra wired controller, a Microsoft wireless headset, 2 64mb memory cards, a Microsoft Driving Wheel, about 9 months left in a Gold Live account, an extra 1-year subscription to Live,  a  Gears of War branded  hard carrying case, and 5 games (Gears of War, Rainbow Six Las Vegas, Need for Speed Carbon, Tiger Woods Golf, Tony Hawk’s Project 8).

I was unable to get the component cables working to my HD TV for a while.  My first calls to Microsoft and Samsung, did not result in a solution, though access to their Tech support was good and the technicians were friendly.  After buying a component cable for my DVD player to rule out any problem with the TV, I called Microsoft for a second time.  Again, I was pleased with the access and this time they were able to solve the problem.  My TV was saying the signal from the component was unrecognized.  I was unable to try changing the HD setting on the XBOX because no picture would appear, and if I used a different connection from the XBOX, the HD settings were disabled!  Seems the key was to plugin the component but ALSO plugin the yellow composite cable so the XBOX detected component, enabling the HD settings, and I could get a video signal to the TV using the yellow composite cable.  After changing the HD setting to 720p or higher it worked. 

I always said I wouldn’t buy an XBOX 360 until I could hook it up to a HD TV. Boy, was I right.  HD gaming is beautiful and the only way to go.

Gears of War has been a blast.  Again, playing the campaign co-op with David is a huge bonding experience and the game is terrific.  BTW, there is a setting to turn off Extreme Content.  It earns it’s M rating with extreme violence (what do you expect with a chainsaw attached to you rifle?) and mature language  (several F-bombs).  We also hook up with Ed in the evening.  Being able to play co-op with a friend online using headsets is a great experience as well since there is no split-screen.  Co-op only works with two people. I wish it supported more.

So the XBOX Elite has been officially announced.  I think the price is great if you’re buying new.  For an extra $80 above the price of the premium you get the bigger hard drive ($179 sold separately), you get new HDMI cables (not that big a deal, though there is disagreement from some, consensus is that it is equivalent to component), and you get a transfer cable to move your content between the old and new HD.  The console itself is black and I’m sure it is sweet.  There is really no new features, it’s all packaging and accessories which I could get for my 360 so in that respect, current owners shouldn’t feel left out.   It’s silly to whine about being left behind.  There is ALWAYS something better around the corner in every electronic device you buy.  The fact they did not lower the price, but make the new skew a great bargain makes this announcement a win win for old and new fans alike.

Lifestyle Businesses

Aaron talks about and points to a good article about Lifestyle Businesses.

How much money does a person need after all?  After a few millions or even 12 million (for a 50k monthly income at %5 return) as mentioned in the article, it seems you’re just greedy to go after more for yourself.  Now making more for your employees is another thing.  I think the disparity between the lowest paid employee and higest paid is obscene in most companies.

Is there a browser killer?

In Eric’s series where he comments on each of the chapters from The 22

Immutable Laws of Marketing

He offers the following question as a diificult one of our times:

Web applications:  Is this a real long-term 

trend?  Will it ever be possible to create rich apps with 

HTML?  Will Microsoft succeed in using its control of the desktop to

  kill this trend?

Developers simply don’t have many viable options when it comes to a server central delivery system for apps.  I recently came across NewIO.  I support their efforts and hope to contribute to their cause.

Windows Vista

So far I’m not digging Windows Vista.  I don’t use it but my mom got her first PC ever and I’ve been helping her with it.

Yesterday I helped her remove all popup windows that appear on bootup.  First there was the McAfee Security Center nagware.  I decided to completely uninstall.  Virus, spam, firewall, everything.  I figured the Vista security features would cover her.  I hate nagware that doesn’t make it easy to disable and I’m at a point where I will uninstall any software with annoying nagware policies.  It’s my computer and I decide what I SHOULD do.

It was not easy finding the Add/Remove programs in Windows Vista.  Why is it so hard to find?  There are tons more icons and commands.  Commands that were more easily available  have been pushed down further in the control panel hierarchy.

Second, her brand new Dell came with some Roxio Drag and Drop service that appears in the system tray.  Windows Vista doesn’t like it and warns about it.  Dell ships a brand new computer and installs crapware that is incompatible with the OS. Nice.  Rather than uninstall it I did a search and found that upgrading it would make the warning go away.

I haven’t completely cleaned up the warning related to the Netgear wireless USB receiver.  I tried adding it to the firewall exclusion list but that didn’t do it.

I had read about the fact that Vista defaults everything to untrusted and forces you to give it permission to run.  How is someone like my mom suppose to decide?  Dell does a disservice by installing this crapware without your permission and not letting the person that ordered choose what to include/exclude on the install image.

Maybe we should have gone with a Mac for my Mom.

Graphics Libraries

G3D C++ Library