Posts from — December 2008

Here’s a neat concept: rather than messing with unreliable home WiFi networks, simply walk that big honkin’ HD video over to your TV, just like you’ve done for years.  This time, the movie is on a portable hard drive, and the device to play the file doesn’t cost several hundred dollars.

WD TV HD Media Player

Western Digital has introduced the WD TV HD Media Player, and it is a very interesting idea.  Essentially it allows you to turn any USB hard drive into an HD media player.  You store your HD content on a USB drive. Plug the drive into the WD TV and you can then easily play HD movies, digital music or still images on your TV in up to 1080p resolution.  Now, that IS easy.

It supports a ton of video formats: from .avi to .mov to XviD, DivX, H.264 and a bunch more.  Did I mention that it supports HDMI and 1080p?  I think I did!

When you compare this little device to buying or building your own media server, I think that it clearly comes out ahead in the areas of cost and simplicity.  You can get the item for as little as $119, and it may just be the answer to a lot of every day needs.

Back Panel

A couple of cons that I see.  First and foremost, it doesn’t support component video, only composite and HDMI, so connecting this to my 6 year old 65″ Mitsubishi Widescreen HD Television with an HD signal just isn’t going to happen.  It will however go on the newer plasmas screen that we have.  But, we use the Mits much more than the Plasma because of location.  I know, I know – I touted its HDMI support, and that IS awesome.  But HDMI along with component would be even better.

Second con: No network support.  It would be nice to be able to drop a USB drive onto this puppy and wirelessly be able to store files on the drive.  I think it would reduce the “sneakernet” aspect of the whole thing.  But, what can you expect for $100?  This would be a nice feature, but it would certainly bump the cost up.

Nice Browse Screen to View Available Media

I suppose when all is said and done, going with something like the QNAP 109 II or 209 II probably makes more sense if you already have a method of displaying digital files – i.e. a PS3 or xBox 360.  You’ll end up spending more money that way, but the benefits may be worth it.

Still, this little thing is easy to use and dirt cheap for the kind of functionality.  You be the judge!  Drop me a note in the comments below and let me know what you think!

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File Formats Supported
Music – MP3, WMA, OGG, WAV/PCM/LPCM, AAC, FLAC, Dolby Digital, AIF/AIFF, MKA
Graphics – JPEG, GIF, TIF/TIFF, BMP, PNG Video -MPEG1/2/4, WMV9, AVI (MPEG4, Xvid, AVC), H.264, MKV, MOV (MPEG4, H.264)
Playlist – PLS, M3U, WPL Subtitle -SRT (UTF-8)

Note:
- MPEG2/4, H.264, and WMV9 supports up to 1920x1080p 24fps, 1920x1080i 30fps, 1280x720p 60fps resolution.
- An audio receiver is required for surround sound output.
- AAC/Dolby Digital decodes in 2 channel output only.
- JPEG does not support CMYK or lossless.
- BMP supports uncompressed format only.
- TIF/TIFF supports single layer only.

Well, here’s an interesting side effect to the new BlackBerry Storm being released…

BlackBerry Storm

According to David Pogue of the New York Times (who gave the Storm an abysmal rating), Mac users are no longer the bitchiest, most attack prone fanboys on the planet.  Apparently that cruel-tongued title has now been usurped by zealot BlackBerry users.  Surprise, Surprise!

To be honest, at this point, I’m an avid BlackBerry user myself and a proud BB Curve owner for the past 2 years.  It wasn’t always that way though – I was an unwilling Palm convert who was cruelly subjected to a forced RIM job.  Ahem.  Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.  I’ve been dying to say that ever since I had to make the switch…

Anyway, back to my point.  I love my BB, though it certainly has its share of shortcomings.  The screen is gorgeous, the email support is fantastic and the phone sound quality and overall volume are both excellent.  That said though, I have been salivating at the idea of upgrading to the Bold due to its faster processor, WiFi capabilities and new OS.  A cold bucket of ice was thrown on that dream when I saw the $400 corporate contract price.  It stopped me dead in my tracks.  At $200, it would have been a done deal.

SIGH.  But, I digress again.  My REAL point here is that I found myself wondering how many of the folks that wrote in agreeing with Pogue and who hated the BB Storm were actually normal BB users.  The tone of his article kinda makes it seem like all of the people who have had problems with the Storm were unwitting, helpless victims in the whole process – untold masses being deceived by the evil Waterloo temptress who they simply had no chance of resisting.  And, that all of the REAL BB fanboys were attacking him with great hostility for no apparent reason.

I’m sure that’s not quite the case…  Look, most companies allow you 15-30 days to exchange the phone if you don’t like it.  RIM has touted the clickable touch screen for quite some time, and my first thought was, “oh, that is either going to be REALLY awesome, or REALLY suck – I don’t think there will be an in between…”  I gotta believe that others were thinking that too.  Long story short – people can try this stuff before they are stuck with it.  Experiment away folks!  No, some of the disenchanted were certainly part of the BB faithful that Pogue is deriding.  Ain’t no doubt about it.

My real feeling is that while all groups of people have assholes in it (and zealot BB users are certainly no exception) that there is probably a deeper story going on here.  Many zealot product groups tend to back up their fervent ardor with representative stock purchases.  RIM’s current $39.49 price is a far way off from its high of $144.56 this past June.  Ouch.  Anyone who has lost nearly 75% of their investment value can’t help but be a little bitchy.  The last thing they need is a bunch of bad press on one of RIM’s big bets getting in the way of their sorely sought recovery.

My final few thoughts (thank goodness, I know!!) are these:

• I’m glad that the Storm was released on Verizon, thereby removing all temptation for yours truly.
• I formally repeal any ill will that I had towards AT&T for continually delaying the Bold release on their network.  It was apparently time well spent, as that launch went off without much of an issue and no big surprises.
• I now take my formerly repealed ill will towards AT&T and send it back in their direction two-fold for the ludicrous $400 corporate contract price that they have shackled the Bold with.

A pox upon those stinking bastards!  I hope they die!

YIKES!??  Did I just say that?  Hmm… Maybe Mr. Pogue was right after all!?? 

The time is finally upon us!!  Don’t miss the start of the awesome Random! Cartoons!  They are set to air tomorrow, December 6th, 2008 at varying times on Nicktoons Network.

Flavio with his voice, Emmy Award winning actor Rob Paulsen. Rob is, without a doubt, one of the best voice actors of our time.

My brother Mike made an AWESOME Random! Cartoon called Flavio, but still no info on when that one will air.

Flavio is an Italian goat who works as a dishwasher in a Pizzaria but aspires to be much more than that. Someday he hopes to be a great inventor like his hero Leonardo DaVinci. No one says it better than Flavio himself, “One-a day, straight to th’ top!”

Anyway, rush over to see the listings and be sure to change the location for your TV provider so you get the right time and channel.  Its set for 1:30 Eastern, 10:30 Pacific according to what I can tell.

First up on Saturday are Solomon FIX; MooBeard the Cow Pirate; Two Witch Sisters followed by Sunday’s airing of The Finster Finster Show; Adventure Time; Mind the Kitty.

Its going to be an awesome show!

I’ll of course annouce it as soon as Flavio is going to air as well!

Despite initially vowing to take public funds if McCain did, Obama is the first presidential candidate since the campaign finance reforms of the 1970s to accept private donations during the general election.

His tactic turned this election into the single most expensive presidential race ever, with over a billion dollars being spent.  That’s a first for our country.

The AP reports that Mr. Obama spent nearly $720 million dollars of the $750 million he raised for his campaign.  While McCain was limited to spending only $84 million from September on (because he accepted public funds), Obama spent $315 million during the same period.  By the end of the race, he was outspending McCain at a rate of 4 to 1.

Lets put this into perspective a bit: the combined total of George W. Bush AND John Kerry’s bill for both the primary and general election back in 2004 was only $653 million, including federal public financing money.

Yes, that’s right, Obama spent more on this election than the combined total of the candidates for the last presidential election.  And, of equal significance, his total spend was well over twice that of McCain’s reported $293 million.

I wonder what would have happened if Obama had done as he had vowed and taken the public funds?  Never before in history has a presidential candidate outspent his opponent by such an overwhelming margin.

Amazing that most people continue to say that its “Fatcat Republicans” who have all the money.  Overspending doesn’t stop at just the presidential election either.  Over the last decade, the most expensive senate campaigns of each cycle, save one (Elizabeth Dole in 2002), have been waged by Democrats.

I think it is officially time the term Fatcat was changed to something more appropriate: FatCRAT.

Congratulations MTV Generation – you’ve got your man as President.  One question though – don’t you think he should have kept his word and spent half as much money campaigning and used the other $325 million supporting some of those causes ya’ll care so much about?  He STILL would have outspent McCain by nearly 10%.

Honestly though, I really would have thought that much cash would have bought more than an 8.5% margin in the results.

Oh well, at least France likes us again.

My Postcasa plugin for WordPress for easily embedding Picasa slideshows in your blog has officially been accepted at the WordPress Plugin Database and will be hosted there from now on.

Of course, you can always access the latest information on my local Postcasa Page but you can also visit its official Plugin Page hosted at the WordPress Codex. Now that it is officially hosted there, you’ll also be able to automatically update the plugin from within WordPress as new versions are released. Pretty cool stuff!

Dang, how I love WordPress!