Learn to Fly--Foo Fighters

Things Have Changed--Dylan

This Is How a Heart Breaks--Rob Thomas

Runnin' Down a Dream--Petty

Someday Baby--Dylan

LA Woman--Doors

Locomotive Breath--Jethro Tull

Won't Get Fooled Again--The Who

You Can't Catch Me--Stones

Freebird--Skynard

China Grove--Doobie Bros.

Don't Fear the Reaper--Blue Oyster Cult

We're an American Band--Grand Funk Railroad

If you're using an Airport Extreme with WPA/WPA2 Personal security enabled, you might notice that your shiny new Zune 2.0 software can't find your network automatically. The fix is  to manually add your Airport and set the network type as "WPA using TKIP" and away you go.

Technical reason: Airport Extremes for some reason squawk as WPA2  and not WPA, even when in mixed security mode which means they don't show up in the list. The Zune team is aware of the issue and it has been reported to Apple.

I have to say I'm pretty impressed with the wireless sync feature. Four years ago we were talking about being able to wirelessly sync your device from your car in the garage. Now it's a reality, and a killer feature IMO.

;)

I read this in the kitchen. :)

I love my Logitech Harmony 890 remote and have been thinking about enabling more home automation with it- lights over the TV, in the corners etc where the kids toys tend to corral into making reaching the switches a game of twister. ZWaveWorld provides a good how-to here.

Blogger Evan DiBiase uncovered a series of new strings in the latest iTunes update that point to video rentals and video on demand (VOD) service enhancements to the iTunes Store coming soon. Hmmm.  Perhaps Apple TV will become a little less of a hobby with this one but there's no guarantee they'll use the features.

One of my favorite people in eHome, Charlie Owen notes, "I'm going to head up an effort here at Microsoft between the Media Center, XBox and Zune teams to give you a set of resources which help you put our products together and begin to realize the 'Connected Home' dream." 

An admirable start. As I've noted here, I would like to see the merging of Windows Home Server and Media Center, and perhaps a wireless home automation component, though I have yet to use it beyond my Logitech Harmony remote. 

I'd also like to see a, "Buy anywhere, Watch anywhere" merging of the Marketplaces in Xbox 360, Zune, and Media Center.

Give Charlie your feedback in comments on his blog here.

via eHomeUpgrade

Sometimes there's just so much good stuff happening that I miss out.  I was browsing the Facebook community for Silverlight (nearly 1000 strong now) and a picture caught my eye.  There was  Adam Kinney's Xbox Friends Watch gadget.  Designed for Windows Vista Sidebar and built with Silverlight, pick the friends you want to track (by gamertag) and you can see online status, browse through latest games and more. 

Adam is one of my favorite inventors in our Developer & Platform Evangelism group.  Simple, yet functional.  Kudos Adam, kudos.

Michael Gartenberg, wizard of digital media at Jupiter Research recently blogged  about  the new round in the HD format battle. With Best Buy following Wal-Mart in offering Toshiba HD-A2 HD-DVD players at a swank $99, Michael notes, "At that [price] point, it's not a competition between HD-DVD and Blue-Ray, it's a competition (correctly so) between HD-DVD and DVD."

Frankly, the whole topic jumped the shark for me nearly six months ago.  But the whole price war has really piqued my curiosity.  I wonder if Toshiba and its partners can keep the prices that low and for how  long?  Either way, Michael has an interesting point - "With prices that low, backwards compatibility and some very good content starting to appear (the Heroes Season 1 Box Set, Transformers and soon the first season the original Star Trek series) we may be getting to a point this holiday season that could tip the balance."

Back in February, I did a quick analysis of the price points for the formats, based on Amazon.com price points for the top players in both formats.  While unscientific, this yielded an average cost of nearly $850 for BD and $400 for HD-DVD (not including game consoles).  While it's clear that BD players have made the most movement, it's unclear when or if prices will drop to this price on an average basis.

And Sony's response to the HD price event?  "Blu-ray will be down to $399 and slightly below that, but not much lower," according to Sony Electronics President Stan Glasgow.

Whether Toshiba was looking to move old inventory (as in a unit that first shipped Q1CY07), or this represents a tipping point in the HD format battles is unclear. Either way, the PR and marketing value of HD-DVD becoming synonymous with "Affordable HD on a disc" is palpable.

Whichever way this one goes, my advice still remains- sign up for NetFlix or Blockbuster's online service and receive whichever format you prefer without purchasing the discs until the whole format war is sorted out.

Note: I do not work for nor with the HD-DVD effort at Microsoft - all comments are my own and not representative of my employer.

If you're an owner of a first-generation Zune,  now known as the Zune 30, it's nice to note that  you'll also shortly be able to use the new Zune software on your device and the new  Zune software starting on 11/13 - that's next Tuesday folks.  I'll post some thoughts here shortly after it's in the wild.

My iPhone and iTunes also took an update yesterday, pushing out a bunch of games and whatnot for the iPod.  I still don't understand why I have to reboot my PC it seems every time iTunes wants to do an update.  Oh well, off to rebootland.

eHomeUpgrade is reporting today on the availability of HP's sleek and sexy Windows Home server.  Now available for pre-order on Amazon.com and the other usual places, a 1TB version is available for $709.99.  If you don't already have a home server and hard-drives sitting around, this is a solid alternative to the Data Robotics Drobo which I've reviewed in the past and everything in-between.

Windows Home Server is nearing critical mass with the number of add-ons for everything from TiVo to iTunes, to a PhotoSync app for Flickr.  My main feature request is Media Center DVR support as a part of the server itself. Having recently upgraded to 802.11n and Gigabit Ethernet in the house, I want one box in the network closet that does it all.  How about it Charlie? ;)

Chris and Ponzi came over for a fun-filled evening on Saturday night.  Chris, never one to be without a gadget had a little orange gem in tow.  He was raving about the Eye-Fi, a combo 2GB SD and WiFi card that automatically uploads your pictures to the web.  I was floored when I saw it in action.  It works with all the major services- Kodak, Wal-Mart, Flickr, Snapfish, Photobucket, Facebook, Webshots, Sicasa, Phanfare and so many more.  Just pop it into any camera and away you go.  Reportedly with an SD to CFII converter, it will work in DSLR's as well.  Chris snapped a picture and immediately it showed up on his account after being paired on my WiFi network and the small client software installed.

I was going to put this on my christmas list but I'm realizing this is just what I need for Thanksgiving and Christmas morning.  I can't wait as family members are increasingly wanting near-realtime pictures and the like.  So I'm going to try and pick one up and evaluate it in full for you here. 

My wife is addicted to Guitar Hero 3.  GH2 was the first game she's ever player in the actual store and at seven months pregnant she kind of stuck out, creating a crowd of gawkers at the lady resting the axe against her belly.  She's classically trained in cello and sight-reads like a whiz which helps, and there's no chance I'll ever, ever beat her in this game. 

But that doesn't stop us from having fun with it.  Having been drugged, bound and tied and placed into the back of an Audi, a friend told me he was going to the midnight madness launch for GH3 for the Wii and offered to pick up the game.  I figured this would be cool, particularly because of the Wii's new online gameplay.  The same way roses win favor with some wives, this would garner favor in my household.

My wife was ecstatic.  Nothing breaks up baby monotony quite like GH3. I missed the sharp HD graphics of the Xbox 360 but the gameplay was largely there, except for a noticable delay in audio effects when you missed a note and the Wiimote twanged, nestled into it's compartment in the Guitar controller.  Then, things went horribly, horribly wrong when our neighbor's daughter challenged us to an online match.

It all started with a phone call.  Apparently we needed to find the 16-digit "Friend Code" and give it to her.  Then, another call- we needed her to enter our friend code.  Then the gameplay. Setting up a game is obnoxious, with little presence information available- did your friend set up the game?  Are you supposed to?  Another phone call.  Then their wireless went out. Sigh.  Finally we get a game, and I realize I spent this money on a Wii version of what I should have bought for Xbox 360 in the first place.  Playing GH3 online with the Wii was like stepping back into the dark ages.

So, Craiglist to the rescue.  I rationalized this away to my wife, who could now unlock more songs via coop mode with Xbox 360 since we'd have two guitar controllers (one from GH2 works just fine).  Sure, she'd have to start over, but she'd also be able to play online.  Okay, she didn't buy that one but we have two guitar controllers that work now.

It's easy to say gameplay is what matters most, until you see the graphics side by side.  Chris and  Ponzi were over for dinner Saturday night and noticed the difference,  Particularly online, the frame rate during some of the hardest sequences drops suddenly and erratically on the Wii.  Xbox 360 keeps up with audio, video, voice, and easy online game matching all in one.

As a master air guitar player, I'm a sucker for this game and you never know, my sons might learn to play the real thing after watching Dad jam. Ryan told me, "Dad, you really rock" and that's all the fan base I need.

All has been quiet here as of late as I've been focused on other topics, namely raking an insane amount of leaves, and running the October gauntlet with two very active boys.  We now return to your regularly scheduled blogging. ;)

A few days ago, iTunes went crazy on me with the black UI of death and I had to reboot to get it going.  After then, every time I tried to Sync, it would get stuck  - syncing for days if I let it. If I pulled the phone out, I had no pictures on  my iPhone. 

After trial and error through every conceivable sync option, I deduced that my iPod Photo Cache folder had somehow become corrupted. After going into my Pictures, viewing and deleting the hidden iPod Photo Cache folder on Windows (Tools|Folder Options|Show Hidden Files and Folders), everything works again.

First Radiohead, then Nine Inch Nails, then Oasis and Jamiroquai, now Madonna are all ditching their record labels. Some are going it alone, some like Madonna are signing a $120M deal with concert promotion companies. 

It's officially here- like "The Big One" threatening to fracture California, seismic events in digital media over the past seven years have accelerated the rate at which the industry has sunk into the abyss. In 20 years, I suspect all record labels will look like concert promoters and boutique firms focused on audience creation a retention through marketing instead of distribution.

TechMeme's Duncan Riley notes, "Madonna may well be the tipping point from where we will now see a flood of recording artists dumping record labels and where todays model will shortly become a footnote in Wikipedia."

My colleague Don Dodge, notes from his work with Napster, "Back in my Napster days there were several big name artists interested in working with Napster to sell their music directly to customers. ...Those artists who wanted to work with Napster were still under contract to the big labels. As soon as their contract expired they wanted to go direct with Napster and sell their music for $1 per song...a lot better that $1 per CD. Madonna, Green Day, Limp Bizkit, MC Hammer, Courtney Love, and several other artists talked to Napster about doing a distribution deal."

Without a doubt. Loved or hated, Madonna is once again blazing a new trail and I'd expect we'll start seeing other big defections. Somewhere, someone is working on a leaderboard with contract expiration dates for major artists and odds of them breaking with their labels.  This should serve as a warning to other industries- adapt to the digital age or whither.