My Tech Home

Zektor ZVG Re-release

2009-05-23T11:43:00.001-05:00

Zektor is apparently preparing for a very limited production run of the Zektor ZVG Vector Graphics generator. If you're old enough to remember the original arcade cabinets of Tempest, Asteroids, and Star Castle, just to name a few, you'll remember vector graphics. Razor-sharp wire mesh rendering on a vector monitor is possible as a vector monitor has no shadow mask nor a scanning raster.

The Zektor ZVG simply plugs into your PC's ECP parallel port and thence attaches to an analog controlled vector monitor (most are supported). Fire up MAME (with your licensed ROM's of course) and enjoy the finest 1980's gaming on a real vector monitor.

Zektor has not produced these adapters in a few years and demand in the MAME and usenet community has been high. If you're interested, you should try to get your hands on one now.

WalMart strives for piece of CE pie

2009-05-17T21:20:00.001-05:00

WalMart continues its aggressive consumer electronics expansion by remodeling their electronics departments in
more than 3500 U.S. stores this week. Part of the remodeling includes higher-end televisions by
Sony and Samsung and more Blu-Ray players and movies.

Microsoft lays off thousands

2009-05-05T20:16:00.001-05:00

Microsoft lays off thousands with numbers to top 5000 jobs in a $1.5 billon dollar cost cutting measure. This is Microsoft's first company-wide layoff ever.

March Electronics and Appliances sales dip 10%

2009-04-15T09:50:00.001-05:00

Data released recently by the U.S. Commerce Department shows sales at consumer electronics and appliance stores fell 10 percent in March from the comparable year-ago period. Ouch!

WildCharge Offers Wireless Charging Accessory For Cellphones

2009-04-08T07:08:00.001-05:00

The WildCharge system, comprising an "antenna" and a charging pad, is compatible with a variety of popular cellphone brands including Blackberry (RIM), HTC, Motorola, Nokia and Sony Ericsson.

Multiple cellphones can be charged at the same time with the WildCharge.

iTunes Converts To All DRM-Free Music

2009-04-08T07:02:00.001-05:00

Today Apple began to offer all songs in its iTunes store without DRM, joining sites such as Amazon and Rhapsody. Apple is now also offering tiered pricing instead of $0.99 per song purchases.

Ritz Camera -- Does anybody really shop there?

2009-04-07T09:48:00.001-05:00

Big news abounds with Ritz Camera closing 300 stores.   I wasn't surprised at all. The chain camera store is known as the nation’s largest specialty camera and imaging products store. How this distinction came about is a mystery to me.

There must be five Ritz Camera stores locally and their stocking levels are poor. You won't find any late-model Nikon or Canon DSLR's there. Sure, the clerk will be simply overjoyed to order it in for you. What's the point of that??!? You could do the same right from home and get it faster and at a better price.

Name brand accessories? Nope.

I suppose they relied on point'n'click digital cameras and lousy 4x5 prints.

Film? Forgetabouddit.   Nada - -- none! I have thousands of dollars in film cameras. And the nation's largest camera store doesn't carry film. Oversight? Or just corporate pig-headed tin-eared bean counting?

So glad to support real, authentic camera stores like Dan's Camera City and real pro shops like Professional Photographic Services.

DVR's were only a fad

2009-01-26T07:39:00.001-06:00

DVR interest swaying as customers preferring live TV -- again...

Microsoft, Zune, and DRM

2009-01-26T07:38:00.001-06:00

Microsoft, in spite of Zune failure, unleashes the most DRM restrictive music download service. OOps.

Senate Nears Deal To Delay Digital TV

2009-01-24T08:51:00.001-06:00

"Key senators have reached a compromise on a bill that would delay the
nation's switch to all-digital television from next month until June
12. A vote on the legislation is expected early next week." -- Washington Post

CES 2009 -- Big Letdown?

2009-01-14T11:06:00.001-06:00

Media outlets are reporting 20-30% fewer attendees at the this year's CES in Las Vegas. Fewer vendors, fewer exhibits, less floor space, and less interesting technology products. Well, CES can't possibly be a zinger each and every year! Just in the last year alone we've seen the demise of HD-DVD, the proliferation of very very affordable 1080p displays, the rise of the netbooks, and mobile "everything."

So what was hot at CES 2009? Looks like mobile and personal electronics grabbed the limelight from the HDTV segment. After all, what more can one improve on in the HDTV world for consumers to make a compelling purchase decision? Not much, so it seems. A 480Hz TV from LG? Naw. Superthin LED TVs from Samsung? Maybe. New surround sound formats that include a "height" matrix channel from Dolby and DTS??? That's a stretch.

CES was ho-hum for me...

Happy New Year and Lunar Christmas

2009-01-14T10:38:00.001-06:00

Happy New Year and Lunar Christmas to our friends (and foes)! See you!

My Low-Tech Coal Heated Home

2008-12-26T16:32:00.001-06:00

Many laughed when I predicted that coal and diesel would make a strong comeback this year. Manufacturers of coal stoves have already sold double the numbers of coal stoves and heaters from last year's heating season. And the auto industry continues to introduce new, clean diesels in every segment -- compact and frugal cars to SUVs and performance sedans.

Why the shift in both of these markets? Frugal customers are driving the market.

Diesel from Coffee Grounds?!??!?!

2008-12-12T11:33:00.001-06:00

Yes, it's true. A team of scientists were able to extract leftover oils from discarded coffee grounds and, like an alchemist, covert the oils to biodiesel. The resulting BioD even smells like coffee. Check out the entire article here.

Circuit City: all aboard the Chapter 11 Choo Choo

2008-11-10T10:36:00.001-06:00

Circuit City: all aboard the Chapter 11 Choo Choo! The downtrodden retailer files for bankruptcy and negotiates financing to keep operations going for the time being. Ouch...

Circuit City short circuits jobs

2008-11-10T07:03:00.001-06:00

Radio station WVRA adjacent to Circuit City headquarters, reported seeing workers leaving this past Friday morning and posted video footage. Circuit City spokesman is withholding comment at this time. The local newspaper interviewed one of the affected worker who claimed 500 and 800 employees are being let go including several “upper management” executives.

Best Buy feels the pain

2008-11-03T07:42:00.001-06:00

Even Best Buy, the #1 consumer electronics retailer, feels the pain of an economic slowdown (not to mention their staff is clueless). Why any consumer would purchase even a mousepad from Best Buy is beyond me.

Circuit City and Tweeter circling the drain

2008-10-31T12:08:00.000-05:00

"Circuit City Stores Inc. said Thursday the New
York Stock Exchange has warned it that its stock price is not high
enough for continued listing. The NYSE said shares in the
nation's No. 2 consumer electronics retailer had an average closing
price of less than $1 over 30 consecutive trading days as of Oct. 22,
falling short of the exchange's requirement. ... Its shares have closed under a dollar in trading since Sept. 30, when
the stock closed at 76 cents. Shares rose a penny to close at 30 cents
in trading Thursday but fell a penny in aftermarket electronic trading
to 29 cents." -- Associated Press

Ouch. I've said it before and I'll say it again: big-box, mass-merchandisers do not have the capability to adequately train staff to properly represent and sell modern consumer electronics. Always consider the small independent business owner that vies four your business. If you're fortunate enough to still have an independent home theater dealer, you should patronize them for business. Consider, copperbox.com, family owned and operated since 1997 -- home theater guys that really know their stuff over a large product line.

And here's another casualty:

"Tweeter was purchased by a liquidator Thursday night after closing
all of its distribution centers and pushing all inventory out to its
stores, TWICE learned.

Company managers are currently being notified by conference call.

Last night, management held a conference call with top regional
personnel to inform them of the decision, according to sources with
close ties to the chain. The name of the liquidation company wasn’t
mentioned in that call.

This morning, TWICE phoned a Tweeter buyer, whose voice mail message said, “They have closed the corporate offices of Tweeter.” -- By Joseph Palenchar -- TWICE,10/31/2008

Only the Star Belly Sneecthes Could Help Santa

2008-10-27T20:25:00.001-05:00

Only the Star Belly Sneecthes Could Help Santa and other retailers this Holiday shopping season. Is the Grinch going to steal Christmas 2008? Economic indicators are pointing to just that happening. According to a new study released from the National Retail Federation, price will be the most important factor influencing consumers' buying
decisions this holiday season. About 40 percent of shoppers indicated that pricing and promotional discounts will determine wherethey will shop. Less than 14% surveyed said quality merchandize is a more important factor.

Audio Authority AVX-562 revisited

2008-10-21T11:41:00.001-05:00

Several months ago I blogged that copperbox.com was the first dealer to begin shipping the Audio Authority AVX-562. Sure its a great product, but how has it been holding up since?

Since the initial installation, I added an Audio Authority 1176BK Six-Output Expander to bring the total number of matrix switched outputs to 12. And I've also added a model 1362 composite to component adapter (for my security camera). Now I can watch my two PCs, an AppleTV, the PS3 and our BluRay player on all ten displays in our shop! Most excellent!

Holiday Electronics Gift Guide 2008

2008-10-05T13:27:00.000-05:00

As you may know, my favorite site for a/v electronics is copperbox.com. I just noticed this afternoon that they're putting together their Holiday Electronics Gift Guide 2008.

Listed as a stocking stuffer is the Hauppauge HVR850 -- its a $59 USB HDTV tuner that plugs into your notebook or desktop PC. Its tiny size is the result of using a silicon "on-chip" tuner, instead of the older can-based tuners of the past. The silicon tuner permits much smaller sizes, vastly improved tuning speed, and low-signal reception. At $59 you may wonder how it performs -- in my home it works very good. The included software allows for viewing and recording both HDTV and analog broadcasts as well as cable-TV broadcasts. The driver and software bundle installed without any problems too. This product comes in over $100 cheaper than older, competing designs too. An excellent gift for anyone!

Audio Authority AVX-562 now shipping

2008-10-03T12:23:00.001-05:00

For all of you home theater buffs out there, Audio Authority has just released their second generation AVATrix: the AVX-562 component video switcher. It has 6 inputs and 6 outputs -- this is a true matrix switch meaning any input can be routed to any one (or more outputs). Each input accommodates HD component video, digital audio, and analog audio. The outputs are all CAT5 jacks. Simply run CAT5 to each location where you have a display, attach a tiny CAT5 receiver module and connect your display device to the module's component video and audio jacks.

This means that you no longer need to run long lengths of expensive component video and audio cables -- instead use inexpensive CAT5 and the AVX-562 to move the HD signal all through your home, office, store, restaurant.

The AVX-562 is small, about the size of a HD TiVO or VHS VCR (remember those?) and has a full-featured alpha-numeric display done up well, vacuum fluorescent blue, so its easily seen in dim or brightly lit rooms. Check out the system here.

MSI Wind at copperbox.com

2008-09-29T07:05:00.001-05:00

The quirky folks at copperbox.com are selling the MSI Wind -- a "netbook" of tiny proportions powered by the Intel Atom processor. With a 10" LCD display and LED backlighting, the 3-cell Wind will last for hours on a single charge. It ships with Windows XP Home but we've already seen some folks installing OSX on them as well (usual disclaimers here).

DSLR Wars

2008-09-20T21:41:00.001-05:00

I'm a film photographer. I do have a digital camera but I much prefer my Mamiya M645 Pro TL for photographing people, urban scapes, and, well, everything. The Mamiya is a medium format camera which simply means it uses 120 (or 220) size film. The size of the camera does can be a hindrance but I do carry it nearly at all times. I never want to miss "the shot!"

I also carry a Canon A650IS with CHDK firmware. This gives the camera many new features, but the two most important for my work is RAW image format and exposure bracketing. This makes for quite a point-n-shoot camera. I've made hundreds of 8x10 and larger prints from it with great results.

Canon has recently announced their new 5D Mark II DSLR. It has a full-frame sensor packed with 21MP. I don't care about megapixeles. I do care about image quality (IQ) and low light performance -- this means little or no noise at ISO 400 and above without using a flash. This camera may be for me!

Canon also announced the 50D DSLR -- 15MP APS-C sized sensor, new DIGIC4 processor, and increased performance at iSO 800 and beyond.

What's Nikon up to? Rumors aside, its quiet. Nikon did release the fabulos D700 12MP full-frames sensor camera. But with Canon squarely pushing the meaningless megapixel battle, I can only hope Nikon steps up to the battle.

OSX vs. Vista

2008-08-08T14:03:00.002-05:00

I never really liked Microsoft Windows as a programming platform. Perhaps it stems from first learning 6502 assembler, and Lattice C on my old Amiga.

And I was never really fond of Macs either. I'm old -- I need a command line! So for the last decade at any given time I had several Linux boxes (Slackware, Gentoo, RedHat, Fedora, Ubuntu), and various Windows ones too. I hated switching my mindset everytime I wanted to play around with geek stuff -- cron, python, bash.

Now I'm hooked on a Mac -- I just love OSX 10.5 and I can't help it. Spaces, terminal, GUI, and oh -- Python -- and vmware for the dumb Windows only stuff (accounting).

Glad I never "upgraded" to Vista. I'll keep my old XP notebook around but I'll never buy another WinTel. Yuck.

Usenet dying?

2008-08-01T14:00:00.002-05:00

If you're a twenty-something you probably don't know of usenet -- one of the oldest and perhaps darkest corners of the internet. A text-only message facility akin to old bulletin board systems, usenet has been the target by the NY State law enforcement that cites allegations of child porn trafficking.

Usenet isn't dead yet. It has been a haven for the alt.binary crowd trading "warez" and multimedia and movies and everything in-between. I'd sooner fathom that torrent and p2p in general led to usenet's demise as, well, p2p is more convenient, faster, and allows at least some security and anonymity.

I'll miss usenet -- many great conversations on interactive fiction, always a place to find a programmer to help out with a bit of code, even stuff for sale.

Alas poor Yorick..

Film cameras on a comeback?

2008-07-30T11:41:00.002-05:00

I have 12 nieces and nephews - -none of which has ever used a film camera. They have seen Polaroids, but, nonetheless, their generation has strictly embraced digital cameras.

My brother and I grew up at a time when film cameras, in particular, 35mm, flourished. I remember going to the local pharmacy and seeing a vast array of film types: 110, 126, Kodak disc, 35mm, Polaroid, magic cubes, flash bars, Advantix, Super 8. Wow, what happened?

Convenience. Low cost. Cheap computers. I remember little photo booths in every parking lot around. Drive up, hand over your film, pick it up in 1-2 days. Now digital cameras offer instant gratification (or disappointment!) of a photo -- point - shoot - view. One can only surmise that billions of digital pictures ever get to print or even out of the camera. These pictures go right to digital dust bin.

But with film -- every shot counted. With 35mm that meant 24 or 36 pictures per roll -- make every one count!

But with professional photography, especially landscape and black & white, film is still going quite strong. Medium and large format, as they're known, have negatives larger than that of a 35mm camera. Medium format, or "120", has a negative size that's big -- about the size of a credit card. Large format gets obscene: 4x5" (inches) or even 8x10". These negatives can be used for huge enlargements not possible with other films or even digital.

What?!?! Yep, medium and large format film cameras can easily be had for under $1000 and have better dynamic range than digital cameras at 10 times the price. Film still hasn't been outdone, but the digital competition is getting close!

Companies such as Mamiya and Hasselblad, both with roots firmly in film, offer medium-format digital cameras. But be prepared for sticker shock -- $9995 USD. Ouch! $36,000 will buy you a 39 megapixel camera with a dynamic range that is getting close to film.

So you thought that 12MP was the ultimate???

Baltika: A taste of home

2008-07-18T09:39:00.002-05:00

Baltika -- sure does sound European -- but it is Russian -- Russian beer, that is. Baltika is a premium Russian beer and is also the #2 beer sold in Europe.

Baltika has at least ten different styles and exports to over 50 countries. There are 11 Baltika breweries: two factories in St Petersburg (WOW) and factories in Rostov-on-Don, Tula, Samara, Khabarovsk, Yaroslavl, Voronezh, Chelyabinsk, Krasnoyarsk and Novosibirsk, with over 12,000 employees. It is really a high-tech brewing marvel.

If you're a beer lover (and since we're in PA, 21+ years old!) you might wish to stop over at IBIMW in Wyoming, PA. As of last count, they had seven different Baltika brews on hand. I've never seen Baltika here in the US, but I was certainly glad to take IBIMW up on a few.

Baltika beers aren't named trendy -- actually, they aren't named at all! They are numbered. Baltika 0 through Baltika 9. I don't think Baltika 0 is here in the US though, as Baltika 0 is a non-alcoholic variety. There was a Baltika Jubilee a few years ago, likely never made it out of St. Pete's though -- it was too good!

OK! My Baltika recommendations:

Baltika Extra 9 -- we call "the strong one". High-gravity, 9.5% strong lager. Be careful with this one -- best after eating a good hearty meal. Malty, a bit sweet, light on hops.
Baltika 6 -- a rich porter but almost like a stout. Dense head, bitter, sweet, robust.
Baltika 7 -- Baltika's answer to Heineken -- A crisp, clean lager without the skunk -- always tastes fresh with a bit of hops on the nose and distinctive European malts.
Baltika 5 -- This elite beer has a rich colour and mild malt taste in which the bitterness of hops can be felt.
Baltika 3 -- the classic Baltika beer, less heavy on the body, close to a classic American/German ale. Light on the alcohol too.

If you're curious, head on over to Baltika's english webpage.

My Sony BDP-S300 player -- time for an upgrade?

2008-07-18T09:25:00.002-05:00

For those of you with Sony's BDP-S300 or BDP-S301 BluRay player, there have been numerous firmware upgrades for the device, all of which Sony claims are necessary to ensure compatibility with the latest movies and with BluRay discs that use Java.

The latest firmware, version 3.95, apparently has also improved start-up times and improved performance with Java as reported by many users, such as myself.

You can grab the latest firmware from Sony here: ftp://ftp.vaio-link.com/PUB/HAV/BDP/FW/

If you don'y know how to update your player, start here: http://sel.sony.com for help.

HD Component video catpure $249

2008-07-18T09:18:00.003-05:00

Finally, an affordable device ($249 US) to capture real HD component video has arrived. The HD-PVR by Hauppauge, will record/capture any HD component video source including digital audio to your PC using a simple USB 2.0 interface. The guys at coppperbox.com have it for sale.

Why would I want to record HD component video anyway? Well, you can record the HD from your HD Tivo, BluRay, HD-DVD, HD Satellite or HD Cable Box, or even timeshift it. Or using the supplied software, create a DVD encoded with H.264 compression for HD playback in your BluRay player!

Sure lots of info there, sorry, but its something we home theater geeks have been waiting for long time.

Back in the US!

2008-07-18T09:17:00.000-05:00

Sorry for no updates for some time -- just recently arrived back in the US since last fall!

Hope to have my regular readers back -- thanks for the encouraging emails!

A weekend without a cellphone or wifi

2007-11-06T09:29:00.000-06:00

A weekend without a cellphone or wifi.. It was everything I thought it would be! My wife and I packed into my diesel Jetta, fired up TomTom, and headed to upstate New York's wine country around the Finger Lakes. We opted the scenic route on the Grand Army of the Republic Highway through the northern tier of Pennsylvania up to Corning, NY and a stopover at the Museum Of Glass.

Corning, NY, lies 40 miles south of our destination -- the extreme northern shore of Lake Keuka (the "Crooked Lake"). Corning is a bustling little city, chock full of history and culture. I found several open wifi hotspots, great cellular service, and a healthy dose of a cappuccino before embarking on the final leg of our route to the Crooked Lake.

Now my Jetta was showing about 120mi on the tripmeter with a fuel consumption of about 2.5 US gallons of diesel -- got to love that! TomTom put me on a road that didn't exist anymore (!) and sent me in a minor Möbius loop getting out of Corning (I'll have to mark that up on MapShare).

Approaching Pen Yan, my cellular service rapidly degenerated. Ah, silence! Route 54A allowed me ample opportunity to exercise the long legs on my Jetta's diesel engine with its high-torque output and six-speed transmission. Cruising at 67mph indicated 48.7 mpg all along the eastern shore of the Lake until we checked into our hotel. Our hotel (Best Western) was well appointed and did have Free-To-Guest wifi, but the strength was too low in my room to be of any effect. No worries though! A quick jaunt over to to Lloyd's Pub made us forget about GSM, wifi, and all those tech interruptions! A huge order of fish'n'chips, Buffalo wings, Grolsch beer (my fav) and we settled in for the evening.

Next morn we jaunted to several Keuka Lake wineries -- most notably McGregor Vineyard. Intrigued by their Dark Russian Red wine, I became a McGregor kinsman by joining their wine clan. If you like NY wines as much as we do, make an effort to stop at McGregor Vineyard. Wine tastings are a daily event and you won't be disappointed. Great wines and a knowledgeable staff! See them online here: http://www.mcgregorwinery.com/

Geeks and Sports

2007-11-04T08:21:00.000-06:00

I' m a huge tech geek and never had an interest in "major" US sports. Sitting on the couch watching some even for hours on end doesn't ever hold my interest. As of late, however, I'm addicted to watching cricket. Yes, its that odd British game with funny bats and wickets.

I don't know how the addiction happened. Had to be a channel surfing frenzy while visiting one of my Russian friends. Now I can't get enough. It's gaining in popularity in the US and has a strong following in the Philadelphia region too. If you're looking for an interest in a new or additional sport, you may wish to explore cricket. Cricket is available on Dish Network and on BEV in Canada, and probably on Galaxy-25 (FTA), and on some webtv sites too.

Wikipedia has a comprehensive article explaining the rules and scoring, as well as 20's and tournament rules.

Time Flies!!!

2007-11-04T08:18:00.000-06:00

Wow, time flies!!! Sorry for the lack of updates! Summer was quite busy around the home -- new cable modem, new VOIP from Vonage at home (YES!!!), replaced my aging wifi router with a newer LinkSys/Cisco unit, new digital controller for my high-efficiency gas furnace, several new ATMEL microcontrollers for various winter projects --- wow! I'll try to fill everybody in in the upcoming winter months!

New Operating System for my Harley

2007-07-19T20:36:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Delphi electronics that take care of my Harley Davidson VROD, I can easily "upgrade" and fine tune the operation of my machine. It is quite simple. Harley Davidson sells the Race Tuner package which is an interface that plugs right into a the Delphi "computer" on my VROD, and the other end plugs into my notebook's USB port. Using the software provided, I can upload a new "map" file which contains all the fuel and ignition tuning parameters.

Changing even an air cleaner can adversely affect performance of my VROD. Exhaust upgrades and engine performance modifications will require that a new map file be uploaded. Thankfully, I don't have to write these on my own! Harley provides a set of new map files for common upgrades and configurations, and there's a wealth of experts over at Max's VROD forum at www.1130cc.com.

The latest upgrade I found was written by a 1130cc.com poster and it really pushed my VROD to its tuning limits. Power increase was apparent, but my fuel economy took a 20% hit too.

Vonage woo-ho!

2007-07-09T15:13:00.000-05:00

My last post/rant regarded taxes and my telephones -- this post is my experience with Vonage.

I was skeptical with VOIP providers. Seemed too good to be true, or hidden fees, add-ons, etc, etc. I picked up a Vonage starter kit model PAP2. Its a Linksys router with two telephone ports on it. Included was a CD albeit only with the user's manual on it.

After actually reading the quick-start pamphlet, I was up and running in under 10 minutes. I had a junker telephone from the dollar store that I plugged into port#1 on the PAP2 and viola-- dial tone. Wow that was easy!. Placed a call to my brother's cell phone as I figured that would be a great test of voice quality and too see if there was any perceptible delay as if calling overseas... No, the quality was great and there was no delay that I could readily perceive.

OK, test #2 and test#3 -- faxes and credit card terminals. I've read mixed results on these, and, I expected neither to work or work well. I logged into Vonage and configured port#2 for a free 2nd fax line (took about two minutes) and plugged in my Hypercom T7+ terminal. A quick swipe of my debit card for $1 and the receipt spit right out. Wow, zero problems there. Fax machine provided the same results -- plugged the fax in and jammed a test fax to my friend's office -- huh, too easy.

Test#4, jukebox. Yep, my jukebox as a analog modem to report sales and licensing data. The modem could not detect a carrier -- oh well, that's why I kept one POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) line around.

My two- thumbs up to Vonage! Works great for us. Now I have Vonage directly intgrated into our office telephone system. All outbound calls go over Vonage, and inbound toll-free ring right in. No real hassle at all.

Our savings for inbound toll free will be substantial as Vonage is 1/2 the price of our other carrier and the first 100 minutes are free. As I was able to consolidate so many lines, I was able to cancel four POTS lines and the taxes and fees associated with them, or about $1000 per year.

Should have jumped onto Vonage long ago!

VoIP and taxes

2007-07-02T19:39:00.000-05:00

Over 20% of my business telephone bill is taxes or "fine print" fees and services charges. I have multiple credit card terminals, a fax, a bevy of inbound voice lines, inbound 800#, and point-of-sale terminals for sales and credit card processing. The 20% portion of my bill is, well, outrageous. Each telephone line incurs some tax, excise fee, 911 fee, number portability, etc. Today, I had enough!

I picked up a few Linksys PAP2 VoIP (Voice over IP) adapters and Vonage service. I reorganized my telephone system, did some basic rewiring of my credit card terminals, and fax machine, and a few office telephones. With no disruption in service, I have moved the bulk over to Vonage and will be removing over 3/4 of my old voice lines. Substantial savings right there. I can also route my inbound toll-free lines to my cellphone (really slick) so I don't miss an important sale.

Should have done this quite a bit sooner!

Blu-Ray is awesome!

2007-06-25T13:35:00.000-05:00

Finally finished recabling my home theater and getting my Sony BDP-S300 installed. I must say I am quite impressed. I've purchased some of my favorite movies including the Prestige and The Fountain. Prestige is impressive, although the rental of Underworld -- Evolution really impresses the heck out of me!

I managed to get my LCD TV to work with 1080/24 output from the Sony BDP-S300 and it was worth the effort! Now to update my aging Denon receiver to something else -- probably the OnkyoTx-SR 805 so I can have uncompressed audio with my Tannoy loudspeakrs.

Blu-Ray sooner than I thought!

2007-06-22T13:04:00.001-05:00

I did a down'n'dirty installation of a Sony BDP-S300 player last night in my home theater. I chose the Sony BDP-300 instead of the competition due to its support for 1080p/24 which works most impressively with my 52" LCD TV. I bypassed my Key Digital KD-VPHD2 scaler and connected it directly to the TV just to get the player set up correctly and get the audio going.

More on the details later!

Blu-Ray Saturday!

2007-06-21T08:28:00.001-05:00

Finally got my hands on a Sony BDP-S300 Blu-Ray DVD player! I'm going to install it this weekend on my Sharp 52" Aquos LCD TV along with my Key Digital KD-VPHD2 scaler/processor. Now I just need to get a new receiver to handle the HDMI audio part, and an HDMI switch -- for an HDMI switch I'll probably go with the Audio Authority 1374 HDMI Switch.

UGI Electric Company

2007-06-20T11:44:00.000-05:00

UGI Electric company has raised their commercial and residential rates by 30% earlier this year -- ouch! Even more disturbing are their commercial rate plans.

Residential service billing is straightforward: take your meter reading, which is in kilowatt-hours, and multiply it by your $cost per kilowatt-hour to give you your price for generation. The MORE eletricity you use will LOWER your cost per kilowatt-hour (see chart). Yes, you do have to add to this your transmission and distribution charges which is roughly 80% of the generation price. UGI residential pricing chart.

Commercial service is quite different is it varies not only on total kilowatt-hours consumed but also by the rate, called "demand", by which it was consumed. The demand is an instantaneous measurement of the power used measured in kilowatts (regardless of the time element). For example, your hairdryer might indicate "1500 watts" which is 1.5kw, your hot water heater typically 6900 watts or 6.9kw, your tv may be 120 watts or 0.12kw. For each appliance, light bulb, dishwasher that is on at a given instance, add all these kw figures up. For residential, it doesn't matter! For commercial customers, it is quite different! The HIGHER the instantaneous demand is, the price per kilowatt hour billed gets LOWER. Sounds counterproductive!

So if you think in your small business that you can save $$$ by using energy efficient appliances, you just might be wrong. If you lower the kilowatt demand, you'll pay more for each kilowatt-hour used. Brush up on your integral Calculus: this is the ol' area under the curve single integral calculus. So, INCREASE your demand, LOWER how often the appliances are on, and your bill should go down, right? No! UGI also considers how many kilowatt hours were used too, so if you install energy efficient appliances, reduce usage, UGI will increase how much per kilowatt you pay! Sounds like an attempt to keep their revenues high as more efficient appliances are brought into use.

See UGI residential pricing chart. Get horrified.

Ice Road Truckers and diesel.

2007-06-19T14:30:00.000-05:00

Ice Road Truckers is on History channel tonight for those of you that had missed it this Sunday past. Speaking of diesel, it has been two years since I've purchased gasoline to do my daily commuting, and almost three for my wife. No, no we don't have electric cars!

My wife has a 2005 VW Passat turbo diesel. It's really amazing to drive -- huge amount of torque right from a dead stop and a real cruiser on the highway. The Passat has 247 ft-lbs of torque from its tiny 2.0 litre engine and has been averaging 37mpg in the city, and 40+ on the highway at highway speeds. We drove from Boston to Philadelphia to Wilkes Barre on the same 14 gallon tank full, and then still had enough fuel for my wife to get around to work etc for another week.

I have a 2006 VW Jetta turbo diesel with a 6-speed DSG transmission. I can easily average 40+ around town and mid 40's on the highway. The Jetta has a smaller engine, 1.9L and an smaller turbo than the Passat, and the transmission helps as well. The transmission is a DSG direct-shift gearbox, a real manual transmission (no torque converter or planetary gears) but has two automatic clutches. It can shift gears faster than the transmission on a Ferrari F40 too.

Recently, I drove from Brandywine Valley back home, a total on 145 miles on about 3 gallon of diesel.

And no, I don't like hybrids. I like to drive a car and not "relearn" how to drive to get the best battery life or worry that my hybrid's battery will poop out when it's subzero outside. Or claim to get great fuel economy (as long as you don't use your A/C or heat or have the windows up all the time), or braking early (!) to help the regenerating system keep the battery charged.

Hell's Kitchen, HDTV, and Shiraz

2007-06-19T06:49:00.000-05:00

Anybody in blogspace see Hell's Kitchen in HD? I didn't--not broadcast here. I'd much rather the show to be on HBO or even PPV -- in any event, give us the show unedited as in Europe or Canada. Anyone know if Hell's Kitchen is on an FTA satellite somewhere??? I had a great bottle of shiraz (Yellow Tail, of course) all ready to go too.

Initial Ramblings Mid June 2007

2007-06-18T15:31:00.000-05:00

Technology is fighting with me this month! I've endured a lengthy and counterintuitive website, CRM, and e-commerce platform migration (which involved lots of ASP); I had to redo the seutp for my Harmony remote control; swap out my RAZR cellphone TWICE; and fix my ODB-II scantool to use to help fix my parent's car.

And today, much to my dismay, my local eletronics supermegastores don't stock the Sony BDP-S300 Blu-Ray players. Well, that'll give me time to redo my home theater switching anyway. Right now, my Sharp Aquos 52" LCD is powered by a Key Digital KD-VPHD2 Digital Video Processor and Switch that ties my satellite receiver and my old Panasonic S72 DVD player to my TV. My Denon AVR5802 isn't HDMI capable which means that it's due for replacement as well. To use the new audio surround sound formats (referred to as "codecs") found on Blu-Ray (and HD-DVD), you must connect the Blu-Ray player via HDMI directly to your surround sound receiver, and then HDMI out of the receiver to your display device. If your receiver is non-HDMI like mine, you'll have to use the optical-out or digital-audio outs of your DVD player in to your receiver and lose any benefits of the better audio codecs.

I've found the Key Digital KD-VPHD2 Digital Video Processor and Switch to be an excellent way to get the most bang out of my Sharp LCD TV. In addition to transparently switching my gear's video and audio, the KD-VPHD2 upconverts all of its inputs to HDMI for one easy connection to my TV. And if your TV does 1080p like my Sharp, then the KD-VPHD2 will breath some new life in those fuzzy and lifeless satellite channels and digital cable channels by some of the best video enhancement I've seen in a long long time! Even at 720 or 1080i (and lots of other resolutions in between) this processor is the one for me. Check it out!