Cesar at Zune Insider has posted a video of the new Zune UI.  I think this is the same B-roll footage provided to the press, but it gives a good overview of some of the UI features.

Just the links and only the links for now:

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/presskits/zune 
(lots of pictures in here)

http://www.zuneinsider.com/

http://www.engadget.com/2006/09/14/microsoft-launc...

I'll chat more later.   

Lots of Zune chatter for the coming day.  First, an article by the Seattle Weekly profiling J. and team.   Scoble of course weighs in. As does Nathan Weinberg at Inside Microsoft. Now the www.comingzune.com site has a decidedly unusual, MTVish, yet intriguing video up (Flash intro, WMV download once you watch the intro).  At first I worried about PETA raising up in arms but watch it all the way through- it's worth it.  The song is a new title, "The Second Coming of the Monkey God" by Ashtar Command - definitely one for my "Gym Rock" mix.  I'm sure we'll be hearing more Zune. (sorry, I couldn't resist) :).

Uninnovate.com has an interesting article on Apple's new support of "Reverse syncing" of content with the iTunes 7 release yesterday:

Today, Apple released iTunes 7.0, among other things. In earlier versions of iTunes, Apple did its best to prevent users from being able to copy music from an iPod back to a desktop computer. Now, Apple has changed course and is marketing “Reverse Syncing” as a new feature of iTunes 7.

But there is one giant catch:

1. Music and media not purchased from the iTunes store only syncs one way, from your computer to your iPod.

This is uninnovation in its most frustrating form. It’s easy to spot and avoid drm-saturated junk, but these kinds of subtle limitations in an otherwise great product frustrate users and drive them to alternative applications. How about trusting the user enough to let them get at their own files without these childish restrictions?

WMP11 added reverse file transfer support back in March which works with purchased, and clear content. (It’s also had album art matching in WMP9, dramatically improved in WMP11). I think the author is being a bit overzealous however in his claim of “uninnovation”- it's always been easy to transfer music off your iPod, it's just a little hidden.  Here it’s a little less hidden.

I’ve seen lots of chatter on iTV - Apple's Media Center Extender-esque device for streaming video to the living room.  It feels like we’ve been here before. Long Zheng at istartedsomething.com has a good recap of the relative strengths and weaknesses of products in this space.   It seems a bit odd that Apple would break from long-time tradition and give a "sneak preview" of a product that won't be available for at least Q1 '07, particularly when they could have held the announce to availability around MacWorld in January. It's clear they had to do this to try and spur purchase of movies from their new store- with no rental model, people just don't want to buy movies to watch on their portable players. Tell them they'll be able to play it in other places as well around the home and their likelihood of purchase is higher.  It’s the battle of cognitive dissonance - buyer's remorse. After all, you're already dealing with the psychological barrier in that the user is buying an intangible good, something without physical form that perceptually has less value than physical media such as DVDs. But... you're going to charge about the same as a physical DVD. Without the Bonus DVD content.  Oh and the 640x480 video quality people are downloading is going to be between VHS and DVD quality (which offers 720x480p).  Never mind that it will be potentially less for letterboxed content since the new iPod doesn't support 16:9 (widescreen) display.  In the time it will take most customers to download one of these movies, I could have gone to the store, bought the DVD, popcorn, a 6-pack of Coke, dinner, come home, cooked dinner, and be ready to watch. In a rental model, all of these issues can be forgiven for immediate gratification and a lower price, as witnessed by the popularity of Video On Demand and InDemand services.

The challenges in streaming TV from the PC aren't just the hypothesized need for higher speed wireless (802.11n) which should be provisionally approved in early 2007.  This might be delaying their launch, but streaming 640x480 video across the home has been possible with Media Center Extender for just about two years now.  A challenge is going to be convincing consumers to buy and set up yet another single-purpose device in the living room, another remote, another input on the TV for this thing.

Today, you can get an Xbox 360 that includes Media Center Extender at no additional cost. Over 16 million Media Center customers can use this today, no additional charge. Even if you don’t have a TV tuner in your PC, you can connect a USB tuner and record TV or HDTV (OTA today, Digital Cable with equipped PCs with Vista). No additional fees.  As announced at CES last year, multiple HDTV manufacturers are putting Media Center extender into their designs, something that costs less than a night at the movies to implement.

As for another box in the living room, the Xbox 360 does HD gaming, DVD/HD-DVD Playback, Music, Photos, Video, TV/HDTV playback, runs rich media apps from a multitude of providers, and delivers an increasing amount of media content via Xbox Live, including HD.   And it's going to get significantly better with Windows Vista Premium's Media Center features – automatically updating your Xbox 360 to support in the family room with the same level of animation and experience. 

Either way, a saying comes to mind: “A rising tide raises all boats” and for that I welcome Apple's foray.  But if Apple's iTV costs the same as an Xbox,  offers nothing more than a "simplified remote" and fewer mainstream features which really makes more sense when competing for  consumer dollars outside the Job's faithful?  With Sony and Nintendo's Wii also vying for that same space, it's about to get a bit more crowded. Or perhaps just noisy.  So begins the "Great Family Room Battle of 2007".

(Disclaimer: I used to work on Media Center, but haven't for over a year, and speak only for myself.)

Engadget has good coverage of the new TiVo Series 3 in action, complete with videos. Apparently the box is THX certified, noting they're interested in attracting videophiles.  The price point of $800 does a lot to cement that as well. Unfortunately there's no suport for TiVo2Go or streaming from TiVo-->TiVo in the home, though Engadget is optimistic this will come in the future.  With the ability to record 300 hours and transfer a lifetime TiVo account to the  box for $200 (or $12/mo for regular joes) you can buy it at www.tivo.com starting today. 

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.

Like so many, I'll never forget where I was.  Brushing my teeth, getting ready for work, I turned on the Today show just after the first plane hit.  Images of the plane hit on the Empire State Building a generation before were conjured up. This must have been a freak accident. Then I saw the second plane hit. I yelled, called my wife into the room.  She gasped  when she realized what had happened.  Cultural innocence had been shattered in an instance.

I'm not going to write a long diatribe on how this event gave rise to blogging like some others are.  In my opinion that would be to lose sight of what today is really about and personally I think it does a disservice. There are other days in which to discuss it.  Remembering the innocent lives lost and the heroes who worked so valiantly to save them is what today is about.

Picture: I took this in December 1999 from Newark Airport.

A fun how-to for removing logos with minimal scratching etc from products by using sugar as a soft abrasive.  YMMV.

Sony just can't catch a break these days.  According to the AP, only 100,000 units for Japan launch.   400,000 units for holiday in US, and delayed in Europe until March '07.  The blame is being placed on a lack of blue-laser diodes, needed for Blu-Ray drives.  Supply-chains matter.  It's looking more and more like this holiday season belongs to Xbox 360 and Wii.

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. ;)

BoomTown has a short How To article on using Windows Media Player 11 Beta 2 to stream music to your Xbox 360.  Short of pictures, good on content.

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