Lots of reports of issues with battery life on the 3G in the Meme the past few days.  Adding insult to injury comes confirmation that most 3rd party adapters can't charge the power-hungry thing. I got bit by this yesterday for the first time when I plugged my iPhone 3G into my VAISTech SoundLinQ adapter in my Toyota Prius.  As soon as I did, I got a wacky message on the device that it would not charge.

Firmware problem?  Not likely. Reports are trickling in that the original iPhone charged via Firewire pin-out while the new 3G only supports USB 2.0, breaking compatibility with many devices including Apple's on pricey and discontinued HiFi sound system. This is most disappointing given I depend on my daily commute to charge my phone up on days when I'm using the iPhone instead of my BlackJack II.  A visit to the VAISTech forums and subsequent iLounge extensive review notes:

Another difference Apple snuck into the iPhone 3G is the latest change to its ever-shifting definition of Dock Connector accessory compatibility. 
This time, Apple has quietly discontinued support for certain types of charging accessories, namely ones that used the FireWire standard rather than USB. Unlike the video accessory change, developers should have known that this one was coming for a long while, so you’re less likely to be affected if you’ve made a recent purchase.
Because of this change, in addition to old accessories such as Belkin’s Auto Kit and Bose’s original SoundDock—identified by one of Apple’s hand-selected reviewers as no longer capable of charging the iPhone 3G—you’ll find that more recent accessories such as XtremeMac’s RoadShow have also stopped working in any way. They’ll bring up a passive screen that says “Charging is not supported by this accessory,” then a new nag screen that says “This accessory is not made to work with iPhone - Charging is not supported.” For RoadShow, which only did two things—AV-out and charging—this change kills any last vestige of utility the old accessory might have had, requiring the purchase of at least a new charger.

So I can't listen to my iPhone via the integrated system and charge it at the same time and doing so at the office isn't really an option since I'm in meetings most of the day. WOW.  Adding insult, the in-car adapter cost more than the iPhone 3G!  Talk about forcing an upgrade cycle. 

Apparently others are having issues with this as well:

• Apple Gazette
• InformationWeek
• StuffTV
• AT&T Forums 
• MacRumors Forums
• USA Today
• Tim Heuer

At that cost, I might as well sell my SoundLinq on eBay and use my Zune all the time in the car.  At least then I can sync and charge from my garage and get the benefit of a ZunePass Subscription for years of music at a cost still cheaper than buying a new in-car adapter.

Update: VAIS Technology rapidly responded to my email inquiry noting they will be offering compatible cables for SL2i in about two weeks.  VAIS will also have an adapter available in about a month for SLi and SL2Vi owners. No word yet on pricing.  Thanks Eugene!

As a kid living outside NYC, I used to enjoy riding mass transit- to take the train into the city through Hoboken, the transfer to the Path and the trip under the Hudson River to appear in a strange land smelling faintly of pierogies, burned pretzels and er other things.  When we moved to Seattle over a decade ago, I was amazed to learn there was no light rail or commuter rail service to speak of.  Just dreams of a monorail that haven't changed much since highlighted in the movie, "Singles".

Now that gas is getting above $4 a gallon and the lines at the Issaquah Costco Discount Gas Station are actually blocking the entrance to Costco's massive parking lot, we witnessing a turning point. 

I can see it with the Microsoft Connector bus service. New routes are being added like crazy and seats on the bio-diesel powered fleet are hard to come by.  Unfortunately I live in an area not easily served by the bus service but I have to wonder - is there finally enough momentum to get the Eastside Rail Project on the right track with trails and rails?  It seems from the East Coast corridor to CA, a part of the solution is light rail and/or commuter rail.  What will it take - $5 gas?  $7?

I'm hoping the Seattle P-I will update this article on high-speed light rail along I90 with a hard look at the topic of connecting the Eastside as well as Seattle proper.

The new Microsoft at CES site is up, and it's powered by Silverlight. There are so many projects underway now it's hard to keep track of them all and this was a great one to see.   
What's more, you'll be able to watch the keynote live in-page with Silverlight or via WMP/default browser.  Take a look, spin the wheel in LV fashion and check out the latest news from Microsoft at CES.

Hope y'all enjoy the show - Sunday night @ 6:30pm

Todd Bishop of the Seattle P-I provides a glimpse into the Take-Home testing that many of us do on digital home technologies at Microsoft.  Scott and Hakkan are two of the guys I've had the pleasure of working with in the past - nice to see inside their homes. 

Which brings me to realize my setup has changed so much in the past few years since I was GPM for Media Center- it might be time for a video this weekend walking around our Digital Home 2.0 ;)

Microsoft employees try out new technology at home

Every year, I pore over my Christmas music looking to create the ultimate mix for that cocktail get-together with the neighborhood friends, the perfect in-car mix for shopping, the Christmas Eve Classical mellow-out of young children, and the anthem to which tiny feet run down the stairs Christmas morning.  Yes, I'm a sucker for the holidays.

I also use my free time over the holidays to try and put digital media to some unnatural uses around the home.  This year, sharing photos of holidays past with family and friends takes center stage.

 

Step 1: Assemble your "Best of the Holidays" Picture Collection into a Single Folder
To simplify transfer to my phone/PDA/Xbox/Media Center and call-up, I use the recently released Windows Live Photo Gallery to organize all of my holiday best pictures into a folder at the top. These are pictures I want to share during the party.

This is easy to do and can be done with any one of your favorite photo apps, though I strongly recommend WL Photo Gallery - not because I work at MSFT but because it has some really great features like ability to upload directly to Flickr.

 

Step 2: Sprinkle in some Holiday Trivia

This year, my wife gave me inspiration- why not create a series of Holiday trivia questions that are sprinkled in the pictures just like at the movie theater?  I loved this idea and immediately set to work creating a solution that works for Xbox 360, Media Center, PCs, and Digital Picture Frames.  It was the hit of our neighborhood Christmas get-together, so I'm offering it up to you here as well. 

I've created a set of 15 questions in the below pack and included the master images from the- all you have to do is unzip it, put the pictures in the same folder as your "Best of" collection.  You'll probably want to rename the files so as to mix them in sets with your own photos.  The pictures are from the old Winter Fun Pack I did as a side project so many years ago for XP.

Step 3: Assemble the Ultimate Christmas Mix

This year we went a little upscale with a swank set of songs for the adults and a few favorites.  Pretty much anyone can build a playlist these days.

Here are some of my favorites:

Cocktail Party Swanky Christmas (Most off "Christmas Classics" on Zune)

• Christmas Time is Here - Vince Guaraldi Trio
• White Christmas - Bing Crosby
• Baby, It's Cold Outside - Dean Martin
• Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - Lou Rawls
• Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let it Snow! - Lena Horne
• (Everybody's Waiting' For) The Man with the Bag - Kay Starr
• Happy Holiday - Peggy Lee
• Sleigh Ride - Ferrane & Teicher
• I'd Like You for Christmas - Julie London
• It Came Upon a Midnight Clear - Ella Fitzgerald
• Grown-Up Christmas List - Michael Buble
  

Step 4: Share it on the Big Screen with Xbox 360, PC, Media Center, Digital Picture Frame etc.
There are a number of ways to get your photo playlist onto your PC or picture frame.  I use my Xbox 360 as an extender, and a CompactFlash card inserted into a digital picture frame to share them in two rooms.  Here are a few examples (click images for larger sizes):

Play it on Xbox 360 from your Zune - from the Zune device or home network

 

Play it from Windows Vista Media Center

 

Play it on a digital picture frame

 

Hope you enjoy- Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from our family to yours.

I don't normally post this kind of thing, but these shots were just too good not to.  Show with a Nikon D50 w/ Nikkor 70-300mm lens.  Additional details included.  I have to get to Fleet Week in San Francisco sometime.

http://home.comcast.net/~bzee1a/

Unfortunately the photographer is unknown, but kudos to him/her. 

I am humbled just looking at these shots.  Be sure to look through to the end.

Update: Photographer is Bernard Zee - thanks to Aaron for finding the credits.

Some of you have noticed my summer hiatus.  I was going to lose some vacation at the end of the year and negotiated an extended leave of seven weeks (5 down, two to go).   We're off learning to live as a new, nuclear family with our newborn son, and just finished a marathon four weeks of family visiting.  I have tons of pictures to upload to Flickr and have also spent some time with Expression Web and Photoshop helping some fellow BBQ'ers create the Pacific Northwest Eggfest site.  Home improvement projects a plenty, and we just did our first major (10 hour) road trip with geek toys which I'll blog about later.

Thanks to all for your inquiry emails- I'll be posting a lot more often here once I've finished recharging!

After a marathon memorial day weekend of edging, hauling, de-weeding, flower planting, and laying out nearly 8 cubic yards of mulch (thanks Larry), we're almost ready for summer.  I must have dumped nearly 500 lbs of 3in deep grass & refuse in the back half of yard (hidden from picture), away to compost.  The french drain that runs through our back yard was so overrun that we had to dig out all the old mulch down to the black matting.  I really should have done a before and after picture. 

Then, our 5 year-old Samsung HLN-507W starts screaming like a banshee.  The darn color wheel has burned out multiple bearings.  After doing some research, I learn that the replacement is no small feat - a simple $100 part, much more in labor.  For that price, I might as well get a new TV then attempt to fix the Samsung myself, moving it upstairs or reselling.

So I've gone throug the obligatory RPTV vs. Plasma vs. LCD debate.  The Samsung was bought for our old house and I discovered for our viewing distance, I need a larger TV (darn). With the budget I had, a Sony Wega 60" 1080p SXRD was the way to go. I had a coupon for BBY that brought the price down to $2000.  After setting up the TV, I have to say it's phenomenal.  I hooked up my TiVo Series3 and a Toshiba HD-A1 HD-DVD player via HDMI and even at 1080i, once calibrated (through my meager efforts) it looks vibrant, much brighter than my 5 yo set before, and no more rainbow effect when playing Halo 3.  My only complaint is video garbage when the TiVo is switching between menu and native mode TV playback (I could set the TiVo to manage but want a pure signal). 

As for gaming, even over component, there's so much more detail in Halo 3 than I saw before, part of it due to better color reproduction, upsampling and contrast.  (Any ISF-certified techs who want to be showcased in a video on your calibration services, please let me know. )

Now I just have to find a way to try out an Xbox 360 Elite to see 1080p in its glory.

Speaking of calibration, my father is really getting into digital photography and needs a good calibration solution for his monitor/printer.  I've heard good things about the ColorVision Spyder2express - any thoughts out there?

As an early adopter of NetFlix, I've written many times here about how good the service is was.  Over the holidays however, that all went horribly, horribly wrong.  My wife and I use NetFlix in spurts- some months we're busy doing something else and don't watch any, then when the TV season goes into hiatus, we catch up on movies.

I've done my part to help their ratings system- my wife and I have collectively rated nearly 400 movies over the years. 

So what did NetFlix do to cause me to switch to Blockbuster's Total Access? 

It started with two out of five discs rented in the last month being cracked.  We're not talking a little crack, we're talking a full 1mm from the edge. I reported both, and noticed it took a longer time than usual to get a replacement of one (the other I didn't request a replacement).  It's embarassing when you have to explain to your in-laws why at a key point in the plot of a movie, you can't watch the rest, nor get another disc during the remainder of their trip because NetFlix is too slow.

Prior to sending the movies back, I moved three movies to the top of my queue.  All were available and I had always received movies listed at the top.  What did I get in return?  Movies from the bottom of my queue.  We're talking over a dozen movies down.  There's no possible way all of the  movies above it were checked out, and I checked!  Like the lint that congregates under your bed, these movies had collected at the bottom of our queue and we had forgotten about them.

David Pogue wrote about NetFlix's great customer service last year.  It's true, I've had nothing but good experiences when reporting a lost disc (and returned later to be credited).  Then Michael Arrington wrote about how NetFlix's complicated algorithms punish frequent users of the service.  I rented more movies during the holidays (vacation?) after literally multiple months of not renting any. 

Somehow, like Arrington, I got "NetFlixed":

Netflixed  /netflicksed/  –adjective

1. punished due to regular usage of services paid-for

2. twisted; awry, as in the condition of discs when received

3. Slang. extracting highest possible profit out of customer by artificially adjusting service offerings to penalize usage.

It looks like the algorithm uses a 30-60 day usage window to enable throttling and doesn't take into account months of pure profit they reaped from me when I wasn't using the service.  Perhaps I'm being punished for reporting two out of three shipped discs being cracked.  How is that my fault?

I tried contacting NetFlix  and have yet to get a response other than, "Sorry, we get a lot of mail".  No problem.  Unsubscribed.

So I've dropped NetFlix as of today, and moved to Blockbuster's Total Access where I also get a free movie on the spot when I return a DVD in-store instead of via mail (we have one by our gym).  They also have a great selection of HD-DVDs and Blu-Ray titles.  Now I just need a Media Center-enabled UI for Blockbuster's service (as I have for NetFlix via the community) and my world is complete.

Congratuations NetFlix- by mis-managing customer expectations you've replaced my prior disdain for Blockbuster's glassy-eyed checkout clerk and late fees with a new disdain for your business practices.

Thanks to the intrepid work of my wife, we're back! She found a generator at 6am yesterday and we had it in-hand at 6:45am (tip: Home Depot expects to receive more Tuesday if you're looking). Like the famed Cabbage Patch craze, my wife called down lists of Lowes and HD stores (among others) from the hotel last night.  CraigsList failed us as we looked.  Thanks to everyone for their well wishes.

Our area was among the hardest hit in the storms.  Not directly thankfully (though I did awaken at midnight with other neighbors to help secure the home of a friend who had a maple tree hit their house and blow out all the windows on the backside.

It's amazing how scary and liberating it can be when you are forced to unplug from the grid. No net access, no power, no phone communication, only AM talk radio for 60 hours can get to you.  The lines at the gas station (and the civil yet

I'm on Cingular's EDGE network right now on my Sony VAIO laptop.  It has built-in EDGE so I just popped the SIM card in and away you go. 

This entire experience though minor in comparison has made me think about the plight in Darfur and others war, famine, and poverty stricken areas.  This holiday season, it's reminded me to do what I can to reach out to others and help in their time of need.

Update: We got power this afternoon. Thanks again to everyone for their help and research- it means a lot!

About four weeks ago, a debate was raging in my household.  My wife, being of sound mind and body, was pleased with HDTV, primarily for its ability to fill our screen (a nearly 4yo Samsung HLM-507W 720p unit), delivering a level of clarity and screen-filling that sated her desire for such classics as, "CSI", "ER" and er... "Dancing with the Stars".

But never mind that.

We had a Comcast Motorola 6419 STB.  It was a marvel... for 2003. I had conversations with folks who talked about the challenges of writing to this box, the things they had done to get around hardware issues and I was (and continue to be) amazed by the abilities of the box.  But, it was suffering me.  Or rather, I was suffering IT in our household. 

There's a not-so-subtle metric among those of us who have battle scars in digital media.  It's called the "WAF" or "SAF".  It's the dreaded "Wife Acceptance Factor" or "Spousal Acceptance Factor".  I fell victim.

You see, where I live, OTA HD (ATSC) isn't even a remote option.  Between two hills, I believe the technical term is SOL. And after getting a taste of HD, my wife was hooked.  The Moto box did well enough.  But the gateway drug of "On Demand" never took hold.  Forget HBO and their on-demand, who appears to split up their seasons to extract more $$$ on DVD sales.  I'd go to Media Center if it were an option, but it's not right now until Vista ships.  Instead, I have my Comcast box. A marvel given the hardware, this thing freezes up, has IR reception far shorter than anything I've seen resulting in this exchange:

"Fast forward!"

"I'm trying"

"It's a commercial!"

"Did you hear me? It's frozen up"

"The angle's all wrong, try holding it up by your ear"

"Ok, I think that's working"

"You've overshot it.  Rewind!"

"I am rewinding"

"You went too far!"

"I'm trying to get it back but it won't respond!"

"Put it up by your ear"

"For the sake of ..."

This is the "WAF" or "SAF" I speak of.  What is family harmony worth to me?  Priceless.

Enter the TiVo Series 3. After serious negotiation, my wife agreed that it made sense to get a TiVo.  This was after trying convince the kind folks at TiVo to send me an evaluation unit.  Then, all hell broke loose (tm?).

Hell?  I had one CableCard and picked up another at the local Comcast store.  I tried to auth both on my TiVo via the phone to no avail.  Long story short, Comcast was "Cold initing" both cards, resulting in a 10 minute delay, yet the Technical Support Rep (TSR) knew to wait only about 4 minutes before trying a truck roll.  Major kudos go to those TSR's I spoke to, because they held in there and were sending a truck the same day. Yes, you heard that right- 11am and they're saying they can send someone out by 4pm the same day.  Major, major kudos to Comcast on that one.

This made me want to stop the poor Comcast "Truck Roll" guy from having to come out the same day. So, I started researching and came across the following article.  My gosh, I've never seen such an articulate description of the workings of the Cablecard process.

Ten minutes after I hung up with Comcast, I checked the TiVo again.  Bingo- the 1 (of 2) cards was now initialized. I was getting HD.

Then I went for #2.  I called Comcast and explained the situation.  I told them what I had read and the TSR asked me to send them a link to the article.  I did, and he was mighty appreciative.  His supervisor was over his shoulder and they were impressed when the second card was correctly initialized.  They thanked me profusely for helping them, and I know they get scored on # of truck rolls so they were happy to see that get cancelled.

I felt good.  I was up and going, and I had given back to my cable provider.  It gave me a warm fuzzy feeling actually.  Not sure why, but I guess I figured others wouldn't have to go through what I did.

Since then, my wife has taken to the new TiVo Series 3 like [insert saying here].  She loves it.  She doesn't need on-demand.  She records those educational programs for our son, and we've practically negated our Netflix subscription (what is it about crappy movies these days anyway).  So I digress.  The TiVo has rebooted a couple of times and of course, I'm pissed about lack of KidZone, or Multi-Room Viewing (MRV), or TiVo To Go (TTG), but it works as (relatively) advertised.   My wife hasn't complained about it more than once (the first reboot).  My son doesn't even miss on-demand.

So what do I miss about the Comcast box?  Nothing, except the additional $$ in my pocket. Heck, I could have bought a full-fledged PC with ATSC tuning in my area for that amount!  But there is a dollar amount on SAF and WAF so for that reason, despite the fact TiVo rebuffed any request to contact them, I will say I like my TiVo Series 3.

I've used Media Center in Vista, and it will give TiVo a real run for it's money for those customers with Cablecard-enabled PC's.  Will I ebay my TiVo for Vista Media Center? Probably at some point. Even then, I have little buyer's remorse over the TiVo Series 3, other than the ridiculous price.  Once set up, it works as advertised.

Disclaimer: I don't work for Windows, Windows Media Center, Media Player or anything that starts with Media or ends with Media.  Though Media might be somewhere in the name. But more on that at a later date. ;)

Wired mag has a good look at the technology that will make the new superscraper that will stand on the original spot of the Twin Towers.  Starting with a fortified steel and 3ft concrete core; the design's steel frame will interconnect to distribute load in the event of another terrorist attach or cataclysmic event.

The tower has a 200-foot-tall, bomb-resistant concrete base surrounded by a multi-layered glass-curtain wall designed to be impervious to any kind of explosion.

The scrapers are supposed to be done by 2011.  I've been avoiding Ground Zero for five years- the dense smell and light smoke that permeated the city when I was there one month later has never left me.  Once the memorial is open, I'll go there.

If you're not viewing this through an RSS reader, you've probably noticed the new look of my blog.  Thanks to Scott and Omar, I'm running DasBlog 1.9  Beta with a host of new features including:

• Faster performance
• Tag Cloud support
• Related entries list - click the blog entry and get a list of suggested items
• Gravatar support in comments
• Improved tagging for major blog search systems
• Great Windows Live Writer support
• Improved comment spam protection

I'm sure I've missed a few features there, but at the end of the day I couldn't convert to CS for a few reasons despite the great support I saw - namely loss of existing permalinks and frankly, the DasBlog guys have been in high gear on competitive features.  Not to mention the Theme structure is easier for me to digest- perhaps through experience.  I'm now using Microsoft Expression Web Designer Beta 1 for my site design!

Speaking of high gear, I'm currently in Denver on my way to surprise my Mother for her 60th b/d in Atlanta.  She thinks she's going to do wedding planning and that I'm on a flight to Tokyo (shhh!).  She won't see this so I think the surprise is safe. 

Any suggestions on good BBQ and sight-seeing things to do while in ATL are appreciated. Somehow I don't think my sister (a vegetarian, respectfully) will be much help there. ;)

Those who know me know that one of my hobbies is BBQ.  Now, this isn't grilling, this is honest-to-goodness, smoked "slow and low" at 200 degrees for hours BBQ.  It stems from many 2am adventures to Wilson's BBQ with a group of friends back in college in Oklahoma.  There, BBQ isn't just plentiful, it's a right.  Out here in the PacNW, I have yet to find a real honest-to-goodness Texas-style BBQ place that's not industrialized.  So, since 1997, I've been learning the art of smoking BBQ.

I started out small - with an electric smoker at first, a little Weber I still shudder to think about as our electric bill spiked every time I used the thing.  Then, it was on to a Great Outdoors Smoky Mountain Series propane water smoker. I've been mastering this one for the past four years or so, but I've lusting after the ultimate smoker - The Big Green Egg. 

The BGE has many converts, including reviewers at the NYTimes and - basically it's a large ceramic cooker that uses a fraction of the cleaner-burning lump charcoal fuel of other metal-based cookers.  Incredibly efficient, it's based on the same principles used for over 3000 years in Chinese and Japanese Kamodo cookers and Indian tandoors.  It can do direct grilling or slow smoking.  It's safer around kids (a plus in my household) and can be used year-round, even in wind and sub-zero temperatures.

So this year, my bonus to myself for a solid review was the beloved Egg.  Guy and Nicole, the owners of Thompson's Hearth & Home, set me up with a large demo egg  that had been used only once, knocking a respectable number of dollars off.  As we were loading it up into my car, a fellow enthusiast none of us knew was driving by and stopped to chat and congratulate me on my purchase.  The skeptic in me thought it was a set up.  It  turns out he owns a BGE as well.  Jeff talked about the instant community he's seen among Corvette owners.  Here, the community came to me. :)  I've also discovered there's an annual "Eggstock" of sorts- "Eggtoberfest" during which "Egghead" enthusiasts get together with their eggs.  An active set of forums also serve as support- even during the act of cooking if you have questions, you can post and

Big egg converts themselves, the Thompsons really understand customer service - they gave me their home phone # and said call anytime up to 9pm, 7 days a week if I had questions. They even threw in a 20lb bag of fuel and a few additional extras.

I also tricked out my BBQ gadget-style with a  BBQGuru.  Basically it's a microprocessor-controlled fan that controls the rate of airflow over the coals. It comes equipped with two thermostats  - one for the meat, the other for the grill temp.  This made cooking practically a set and forget proposition.

My first attempt was a Tri-Tip steak.  Tri-tip is lesser known cut of sirloin since there's only two per cow, it tended not to get marketed.  It was cooked over direct heat and had a flavor my gas grill couldn't come close to. A bit heavy on the smoke, I'll learn to throttle this back.  The next night, the remainder of the tri-tip was turned into steak quesadillas for a Poker Party some friends threw- a big hit!

Saturday was the big challenge - Pork Shoulder (a.k.a. Boston Butt or Pulled Pork).  I picked up an 8lb boneless shoulder at Fischer's Meats and prepped for 20-24hours of cooking.  The shoulder went in at 200 degrees with a mix of cherry and hickory wood to add a nice smoke flavor.  I made "The Renowned Mr. Brown" Southern Succor Rub.  The main recipe though came from The Naked Whiz's web site- all sorts of good stuff here.

That was, until the fire went out at 3:30am. I transferred the pork to the oven while I relit.  It turns out the issue was how I set the charcoal.  I've since learned.  My remaining fire stayed at 200deg for 12 hours after I cut it off and still had half the lump left.  from 3:30am until 4:30pm, the egg was never opened.  And here was the result:

After 45 minutes wrapped in foil and warmed to keep the moisture in, a simple two-tined meat fork was used to "pull" or shred the pork.  It was more effort to pull a knife through butter.  Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of the pulled pork because it was going to the serving table too fast!

At the BBQ, one of our guests' sons requested a hamburger.  I set the Guru up to 500 degrees and in 5 minutes, the fire was up and the burger was done quickly.  His Dad said he loved it!

And so begins the adventures of Sean and the BGE. Tonight, I'm going to try wood-fired Pizza on a ceramic pizza stone.  Maybe I'll make a video of it this time and put together some how-to's using Movie Maker in Vista RC1 ;)

Update0: Apparently there is a Texas-style BBQ place in the Seattle area.  Tipster Marius pointed me to a local place appropriately named.  A group of us are going to do a lunch-hour get-together to check this place out later this month.  Anyone who wants to join, drop a comment here and I'll include you on the invite.

Texas Style Smoked BBQ
10410 Holman Rd N
Seattle, WA 98133
206 782-5491

Duncan tipped me off to a new video he just posted looking at mceAuction, an eBay add-in for Windows Media Center. Developed by long-time and highly respected Media Center developer Christoph Buenger of Scendix, this is a great example of the cool stuff you can do and winner of the, "eBay Star Developer Award 2006". 

New features include:

• Show item's location in Google Maps®
• Get notification when you got outbid, your watched auction end in a few minutes, ...
• Shows shipping costs, payment options, item's attributes, ...
• Shows all details for a seller (latest feedback, % feedback score, ...)
• List of other items from a seller
• List of auctions in "my eBay" that are ending soon.

I can't wait to see what Christoph and team comes up with using the Vista Media Center SDK and rumor has it he's working  on  a Windows Sidebar gadget or two.

THANK YOU to maverick Mark Cuban and C|Net's Blogma for ranting about a topic I've also been on the warpath over for years- product packaging that makes the customer the enemy.  We've all experienced it- tough plastic-molded around the product we just bought, the knives, the scissors, the bloody incisions on our fingers.  One brand name these are known under in the business is "Thermoform".  Thermal molded plastics.  I call it "The Polycoffin".

But the blame doesn't rest solely with the manufacturer.  Retailers are playing a larger part in detailing packaging requirements, threatening not to "assort" products that do not use the packaging.  They claim that a high likelihood of theft is the reason why they do this.  The risk to the manufacturer is lost shelf space at retail, lost sale in the store (due to lack of shelf or floor space), both of which are crucial to success for many CE manufacturers.  Smaller CE manufacturers don't have the retail power (read: $$$) to fund their own retail programs in-store so they're over a barrel. So the retailer wants to reduce their cost of doing business and passes the buck to the retailer in one direction, the customer in the other; knowing the customer will blame the manufacturer, not the retailer for the situation.  Mail-order products are also affected because the manufacturer cannot afford to keep inventory of products in multiple packaging types. 

But the problem is that thermoform is so cheap now thanks to economies of scale that even low-priced products - kids toys, tools, and blank DV-camera tapes are being put in thermaform.  It's a retail addiction.

So what can we, the measly consumers do about this?  I firmly believe the manufacturers take their cues from the retailers.  Here are a few ideas on how to take back the packaging and put the customer first!

1. Require the Retailer remove the packaging at point of sale.  Let them know that the product you're holding will not be purchased because it is in thermoform.  Offer an alternative - tell them if they're willing to, "Remove your anti-theft packaging from the product after purchase", then you'll buy it.  You wouldn't buy clothing with an ink-tag anti-theft device still attached and they don't expect you to remove it.  Same should go for thermoform. Make it their time and effort that's wasted.  Unfortunately this doesn't work for gifted items :(
2. Mail the Thermoform back to the retailer's HQ care of the CEO. This takes up more of your time, but include a politely worded letter that you don't appreciate being subjected to physical harm in exchange for your purchasing dollars and will be returning their anti-theft device.  This requires a lot of people to do in order to be useful.
3. Speak to the Manager; boycott the product. If they are unable or unwilling to remove the packaging, ask to speak to a manager.  Explain that you will be sending said plastic along with his/her name in a letter to the CEO to the company.
4. Liability. I'm not a lawyer, nor do I pretend to be and generally think our society has become too litigious.  But I am just waiting for someone, somewhere to get sliced by one of these packages bad enough to do a)nerve damage,  b)require stitches, or c)contract a severe infection that spawns a class action lawsuit. 
5. Blog About it. (Thank you Jeremy).  Bloggers and professional reviewers should consider packaging a part of the criteria as well in their evaluation of products.  It's all about cognitive dissonance.  Buyer's remorse is amplified by bad packaging. 

It's time to end the addiction to thermoform plastic packaging and put the customer first again.  We need a better solution to anti-theft.

Apparently this guy, "Remi Frazier" has a million dollar destiny (and a myspace account).  He says he's gone to NYC with $100 in his pocket and says he will return to Colorado in a month with a million dollars:

I've never been to New York. I don't have a place to stay. I don't have a network of people in the city; I haven't set anything up in advance. I'll be starting from scratch, building a business and a new social network from Friday, June 16 to Saturday, July 15th.

Interesting idea there Remi.  Personally I'm getting a little tired of these hair-brained "missions" and the dolts that pay for them. Perhaps this is a PhD experiment gone awry but I expect it's just another attempt to pilfer a million dollars from unsuspecting folks looking for a cheap (Internet) thrill.  Here's an idea, give that $3 you were about to send Remi to a local non-profit organization instead and watch something useful come from your local community. 

 

Check with your employer- they often match donations too. There you go.  $6 to a worthy cause instead of $3 wasted dollars to Remi.  Perhaps some good can come from this after all.

Today the announcement was made that Bill Gates will be stepping down as Chief Software Architect and in two years will retire to his part-time position as Chairman of Microsoft. Instead he's going to focus on efforts such as battling tuberculosis, a topic near to our family. 

My "little" sister is a microbiologist for the CDC, running Tuberculosis projects around the world.  Yesterday she IM'ed me from Botswana-a surreal moment.  She was in Kazakhstan just a few months ago, it's amazing.  Regularly she talks about Bill Gates a reverence not seen (in my parts) in a while now.  Despite all the flak he received in years past, Bill is doing something incredibly worthy with his immense wealth.

I've had the opportunity to work with and talk with Bill on four separate occasions.  In each of these, he had the air of an elder statesman, on one occasion even sticking around for an extra hour to brainstorm a few ideas with a group of us.  It was energizing to have this kind of engagement with him, outside of a review, just like a group of friends and co-workers out of the office shooting bull about the industry.  He's human, we didn't necessarily share all the same ideals but could discuss and debate.  I enjoyed our time in this capacity.

Bill is part of the reason I joined Microsoft- the mystique inspired me like many; the desire to meet him "one day" was strong (checkbox filled plus pictures).  But in actuality his is just one person.  Microsoft is filled with bright and passionate people I learn from every day. He's not the only one.  The transition is bittersweet, but now it is perhaps my sister's turn.  I know she (like many other scientists) would like to one day work at the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation.  Perhaps she'll get her opportunity one day to meet Bill and the two of us can compare.

For now, we can all joke about how Bill is following Robert Scoble's lead :).

Last Thursday, the installers arrived and we're now customers of Comcast Digital Voice service.  Basically the service runs over your existing cable system for phone service. At first I was skeptical, hearing the many stories about features that were missing from VOIP services (e.g. E-911 service).  Despite the fact that three of our neighbors are RNs, and the Eastside Fire Chief lives two doors down, there's a certain peace of mind that comes with this.  The good news is that this doesn't appear to be an issue anymore and with nationwide long-distance, the cost is nearly the same as our local POTS (Plain Old Telephone System) provider for just local calls.  Here's a quick rundown of the good and bad in my opinion. 

The Good

• Good (not great) voice quality.  The average person probably wouldn't notice any difference. 
• E911 service including address reporting
• Battery Backup (in case the power goes out)
• Voice mail support for phone and Web (secured). You can even download as excel spreadsheets all incoming, missed, and outgoing calls.
• Security system integration
• No service contract
• No apparent drop in download speeds (for upload see below)
• One bill for cable and phone

What could be better/Suggestions

• E911 doesn't work during extended outages over several hours; resiliency is a concern often noted regarding network congestion etc.
• My upload speed appears to have gone from close to 384 to 284, unsure if it's related.
• Takes up to 10 days before new customers will start seeing incoming/outgoing calls on the Web system.
• Visual notification when voicemail is waiting & Caller ID. Some sort of auxiliary display would be nice (Sideshow anyone?)
• Windows Live Messenger bot.  I want an agent that notifies me when a call comes in.
• Online personal phone book
• Phone integration (something like this new Philips Windows Live Messenger-enabled phone)

I'll report back after a few weeks of living with the service.

Wow.  I thought the combo was good, but sometimes you zoom in and stare at the blemishes for so long you lose sight that you're looking at a Ferrrari. Even I didn't expect this kind of welcome. 

Read: CNet's, "Awesome: The WMP/Urge/Clix Combo"

And no, no one was paid off/schmoozed/invited to a poker game to get this review. ;)

Many more positive reviews today - Michael Gartenberg has his thoughts here.
In fact, they were all glowing of WMP/Urge/Clix in one way or another.
Today was a very good day.