What's New

August 31, 2010

Dish Network Sucks!
<rant>And I'm not the only one who thinks so. Check it out. Do a search on 'Dish Network Sucks', you'll find many links to like minded people. It's so bad in fact that someone has even gone so far as to register the domain name: dishnetworksucks.com. Do a Google search on 'Dish Network Sucks' - When I did (31 Aug 2010), Google returned 187,000 hits. My experience with dish network started when I decided to provide some satellite TV for my mother. She lives out in the woods, and there's no cable provider in range of her home. So, I thought I'd be a good son and sign her up for some satellite TV. Well, answering an add in the newspaper, I ended up getting a completely different package than the one that I thought I was getting. The reseller (Enjoy Better TV) made it sound good in the newspaper, but the reality was really something else. I didn't get the number of channels I thought I was getting. I didn't realize I was dealing with a reseller until later (when I noticed that things weren't what I expected). I didn't realize all the 'Hidden' conditions, fees, and restrictions until after they installed the equipment at my mom's place.

I've written about Dish Network in the past, but a recent incident has once again invoked my ire. Why does Dish Network suck so badly (in my opinion)? I've had nothing but problems since I signed up. The service is for my mother. I had Dish installed at her house. She lives way out in the woods, and without some sort of pay service, she wouldn't have any TV. So much for the 'Digital TV' transition. It transitioned me right into a monthly recurring charge. If I had to rate the things I hate in life on a scale of 1 - 10, Dish Network would rate up there as number 2 - Right after 'Paying my taxes'. Since signing up in 2008, the price of my 'basic' service has risen from appx $25.00 to more than $50.00 for the same 'basic' service. Their customer service blows. Every time I have to call them my blood pressure goes through the roof. I wonder if anyone has sued them for 'Emotional Distress'? I'd like to dump them, but I don't think Direct TV will be any better, and I still have a few months left on my initial two year contract. I usually have to deal with the Dish 'Customer Service' two to three times a year. I dread the occasions when I have to call them, but it's inevitable. They're going to screw something up. My billing, my service, the hardware - It's always something. I really wish there was some kind of competition in this industry. What other choice do I have? My mother lives in a very remote region, and cable is out of the question. She's too far from the HD broadcast facilities, so she can't get the broadcast signal, and you can't watch TV over telephone dial-up. My only other choice is another satellite provider, but I truly can't imagine another service being any better.

I've got an idea, in order to keep costs down - for consumers; maybe Dish Network could add more 'Shopping Channels', or more 'Paid Advertisement'. As a matter of fact, they should add a thousand more 'Shopping Channels'. If they add enough of these channels, they could pass the savings on to me. With enough 'Paid Advertisement', they could actually give away their service. Maybe they could even pay me! Go for it Dish - Add some more useless channels.

Oh how I hate Dish Network!</rant>
<http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/330/RipOff0330885.htm>
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dish_Network>

* Welcome: The website's opener. A page containing an introduction to our community website. Here you'll find all the latest news and announcements. I updated the date for our next MD meeting (28 Sep, 2010) and added a banner for an upcoming Ward VI meeting. Our local government is having a meeting on the 21st of Sep, 2010.
* Events: A detailed listing of upcoming and recurring events in and around Tollgate Crossing. Here is more detailed information regarding some of the events you may have read about on the 'Welcome' page. It's also a place to look for long term/recurring events. I updated the date for our next Metro District meeting (28 Sep, 2010). I also added some information regarding an upcoming Ward VI meeting. Our local government is having a meeting. Join Council Member Bob Broom and guest speaker Sheriff Grayson Robinson for a discussion on topics of concern to residents of Ward VI (including a ballot issue concerning medical marijuana). The meeting will take place from 7-8:30pm. Location is Shalom Park community, 14800 E. Belleview Dr., Aurora, CO 80015. For more information see our Events page.

If you are a resident of 'Tollgate Crossing' (in Aurora, Colorado), you might want to check out the website. It's loaded with information about our community and you can even sign up for some of the email mailing lists that serve our community.
<http://www.tollgatecrossing.org/Welcome.html>

Southeast Aurora Neighborhood Watch website:
My odd-ball schedule actually works in my favor for some things. A couple of those things are the community support activities which I enjoy - Volunteering with our local neighborhood watch, maintaining the Southeast Aurora Neighborhood Watch website and mailing lists. Here are some of the changes I made at our Neighborhood Watch website in the last few days:

* Events: A listing of upcoming and recurring events in you Southeast Aurora Neighborhood. Events sponsored by or relevant to our Neighborhood Watch. I added some information regarding an upcoming Ward VI meeting. Our local government is having a meeting. Join Council Member Bob Broom and guest speaker Sheriff Grayson Robinson for a discussion on topics of concern to residents of Ward VI (including a ballot issue concerning medical marijuana). The meeting will take place from 7-8:30pm (on the 21st of Sep, 2010). Location is Shalom Park community, 14800 E. Belleview Dr., Aurora, CO 80015

If you are a resident of Southeast Aurora, you might want to check out our Southeast Aurora Neighborhood Watch website (Serving the following communities: Tollgate Crossing, Sorrel Ranch, The Wheatlands, Beacon Point, Southshore, Tallyn’s Reach, Saddle Rock - North, Serenity Ridge, Black Stone, Heritage Eagle Bend and Rocking Horse). If you're concerned about the safety and security of our community, you might want to join our group, or subscribe to one of our mailing lists to receive periodic alerts, updates and information.
<http://www.southeastaurora-neighborhoodwatch.org/Welcome.html>

Printer won't print:
<rant>Another computer problem vexes me, makes me angry. Thankfully it's relatively easy to fix (if only temporarily), despite the difficulties noted in various online forums. This particular problem has struck numerous times on my Mac. While I love the Mac OS, no operating system is without it's issues, and this is just one of those perplexing problems that seems to bother people in our age of super-computers and sophisticated communications devices. If you're familiar with my battles in the land of network connections, you know I don't give up easily when confronted with a technological challenge. This desktop dilemma is just the latest of those challenges.

A bit more detail - So the problem started occurring a few months back, and over the last week it's struck several times (at least four times). It's hard to pin down the exact date that this problem first started cropping up. Online forums suggest a date as early as Sep of 2009. That could indicate that it came about with the release of Snow Leopard (OS X 10.6 - Released Aug 28, 2009). The problem involves my Epson printers, and it seems to only affect other users of Epson printers. So far I haven't narrowed it down much further than possible problems printing PDF content through the Preview plugin used in Safari (version 5.0.1) - I think... It happens so sporadically that it's really difficult to troubleshoot.

The error encountered when printing fails:
Error: /Library/Printers/EPSON/InkjetPrinter2/Filter/rastertoescpII.app/Contents/MacOS/rastertoescpII failed

Once this error appears, nothing will print. After a bit of online searching, I found a solution (although temporary). I have to re-install my print drivers. Here are the steps I take to reset my printing system. Re-install print drivers and reset printing.

Turn off all printers (I've got two).
Remove current printers from 'Print & Fax' preference pane (click the minus button under list of printers). Click OK to confirm.
Position your mouse cursor inside the empty pane where the printers were listed (in the Print & Fax preference pane). Press and hold CTRL key, followed by right click.
When menu/option appears, select 'Reset printing system'. You may be prompted to enter an administrator name/password to confirm.
Turn on your printer(s). Printers/drivers should be automatically re-added to your list of printers. If not you may need to reinstall the drivers from the Epson support site (if you install from disc they'll be pre-snow leopard drivers). You may also need to re-enable printer sharing.

So far, this has worked for me. It restores my ability to print. Unfortunately, it only works until the error happens again... Apple/Epson have some problems that need resolution. This problem's been around since the introduction of Snow Leopard (I think). It's quite annoying and I wish I knew how to solve it for good. </rant>
<http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2160662>

August 26, 2010

Updating the software on my TV!
<rant>Who would have thought, that you'd ever have to update the 'software' on your television? It's an odd thought for those of us who grew up at the beginning of the television era. As far back as I can remember, my parents had a television in their living room. TVs in the 60s and 70s were heavy, hot, and finicky. They threw out a lot of heat, took a long time to warm up and cool down. They often misbehaved, and had to be smacked about frequently. Picture tubes burned out. Other components burned up, wore out or needed maintenance. TV repair-man was an actual line of work. Components were expensive enough that you wouldn't buy a new TV unless you absolutely had to. For the most part, TVs were dumb devices. Radio receivers with speakers and a picture tube to display the video received. I've taken apart a few TVs, I've even tried my hand at replacing some components. That was then...

This is now. HDTV, LCD, LED, DLP, HDMI. Ten years ago, everyone had the same basic television. A heavy-duty receiver (it might have had a tuner for cable) attached to a massive cathode ray tube which stuck out the back. The controls consisted of two knobs. One to change the channels and a second to control the volume. Now the screens are massive, but they're only inches thick. The picture quality is far better, they use less electricity, throw off far less heat, and despite their much larger screens, they actually weigh far less and take up less space. Despite all these 'advances', the TVs of today have more than their share of problems. Packing all that technology into these new TVs has left us with a flat-panel display that appears to work by magic. A myriad array of algorithms, software and integrated circuits drive these displays, and they sometimes drive us batty with their quirks, inconsistent interfaces and incomprehensible instruction manuals.

When I bought my recent TV (back in June of 2009), I put in days of research before I selected the Sony Bravia (KDL-52V5100). At the time I selected it, it was a top-of-the-line model. By the time I finally got it set up in my living room, it was already four models behind. The TV industry is reving models faster than you can shake a stick. Their producing new TVs so quickly, that they haven't got any time to do adequate troubleshooting, consumer testing or product testing. While my TV should have been a miracle of modern manufacturing, it turns out that even a top-of-the-line TV is bound to be plagued with many little problems, and my TV is no exception. From day one, I started noticing problems. The biggest problem was figuring out whether the problem was being caused by the TV. The TV is no longer an independent operator, it's the final stop in a series of possible problems, plausible excuses and frustrating technological gizmos (cable providers equipment (outside my house), cable lines inside my house, cable distribution box (in the basement), cable modem, multi-channel home entertainment receiver, HDMI cable, then the TV). Troubleshooting problems with your TV can be a nightmare.

The problems I was encountering? Sometimes I couldn't get a video signal to the TV. Is it the HDMI cable? Perhaps its the Blu-Ray player, or the receiver? Sometimes I'd loose audio after the DVD switched to a different menu. Sometimes the TV wouldn't switch to the proper input. Sometimes the screen would dim or get brighter for no apparent reason. These are just a few of the issues I've been living with. After more than a full year of troubleshooting frustration, I decided to update the software on my TV. That's right software controls all the inputs, outputs, signal switching and picture controls on my television. I downloaded the new software from the Sony website. My current software: version 3.3-D327. The update: version 4.12-E228. That's a considerable difference. Reading through the online forums and documentation. It sounds like this update should solve some of my problems.

The update process was relatively painless. Download update, un-zip the archive, copy the files to a thumb drive, plug thumb drive into rear USB slot, power up the tv. The TV provided clear information on screen during the update, and it told me when the update was finished. I removed the thumb drive and the TV 're-booted'. With the new firmware installed, I haven't noticed any of those pesky problem I noticed earlier. Who would have thought? I had to update the software on my television!</rant>
<http://www.gohighvoltage.com/forum/index.php?topic=54.0>
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television>

Pita Pal Hummus:
<rave>Kim and I have recently discovered - Hummus. An amazing food. Fully vegetarian (the food not us - not yet), fantastic flavor and healthy for you. It's made of chickpeas , tahini (sesame paste), olive oil, lemon juice, salt, garlic and occasionally other ingredients as garnish. Wow, it's amazing! Growing up as European descendents of Polish, Dutch, Irish, German ancestry in the midwest, our ethnic roots limited our exposure to many foods. The spiciest food my parents ever served were 'tacos', and no one had ever heard of Hummus much less eaten raw fish on purpose. Spending twenty years in the military offered many opportunities to try new foods, and our assignments in Italy, Germany and Japan helped. Aside from our own curiosity, it's the recent (in the last twenty years) explosion of ethnic foods in American grocery stores that's offered the most opportunity for new foods.

While we've been discovering the fantastic flavors of the Middle East, we decided to make Hummus a new staple in our diet. It's a great complement to raw vegetables, sandwiches, pitas, crackers and chips. With our discovery of Hummus, we've been trying various different brands (from the grocery store). A recent purchase resulted in the discovery of one particular brand that I must praise. I felt I had to write this rave, to inform you - just in case you didn't know; and everyone should know - That the Hummus produced by 'Pita Pal' is awesome! Unbelievably scrumptious, delicious, deserving of a never-ending string of praise-worthy adjectives. Having only sampled a few of their products, I look forward to more joyous occasions as I open my refrigerator and select a container of their sublime hummus.

So far I've eaten the Spicy Jalapeno and Olive varieties. I just finished a short visit to their website. I had no idea they made so many products... Plus, they're Kosher, organic, MSG and HFC (High Fructose Corn-syrup) free! I certainly hope that they keep up the good work. They're undoubtedly making many people happy. I can attest that their hummus makes my life better!</rave>
<http://www.pitapal.com/>

Apple Battery Charger:
Apple recently (July 27, 2010) released another new high-tech gadget. A Battery Charger. Yes, you heard right. A battery charger. Inconspicuously named 'Apple Battery Charger', this 'device' complements Apple's line of wireless peripherals. The wireless keyboard, magic mouse, and now (also announced on the 27th) the 'Magic Trackpad'. Why would Apple enter such a market? Well, Apple feels compelled to make our lives better (thank you Apple), and rechargeable batteries are in a total state of disarray - The primary reason I wouldn't purchase wireless peripherals. The battery issue has always been a sore spot for me. I can't stand the though of having to constantly buy, stock, recharge, and juggle batteries for a device sitting inches from my computer - Why can't I simply plug the thing into my computer? Most rechargeable batteries suck - In more ways than one. They don't last long; with recharging, I've found their only good for two to three years before the charge life is so short as to be useless. Either that or they don't put out enough juice to drive the device you bought them for. Figuring out what type to buy/use is a nightmare. There are literally thousands of different configurations (between type, size, voltage, amperage, etc) in the AA arena alone.

Hoping to make things better, easier, simpler for their customers, Apple has produced this new product. Apple's claims for their new battery and charger are a bit audacious. The batteries will last 10 years! What? Yup, a ten year lifetime for the AA batteries (the charger ships with six NiMH rechargeable batteries). That should save you a considerable chunk of change. They've also decided to save you more money by shutting down the device (standby consumes 30mW vs a typical 315mW draw) once your batteries are charged (remember the claims of batter chargers 'sucking'?). This is great. Not only will this device not 'over-charge' the batteries, it doesn't over-charge you for leaving the thing plugged in. The device is compact (with a profile that doesn't block both outlets when used), Apple white, and sleekly designed with no buttons, switches or cords.

So, what's my interest in this device? Well, I bought one. It arrived today (26 Aug, 2010), and I'm looking forward to some rechargeable batteries that don't 'suck'. Why would I buy this product? Well, aside from the reasons inherent from the paragraphs above... I bought a 'Magic Trackpad' as well. More on that later.
<http://www.apple.com/battery-charger/>

Netflix on the iPhone:
<rave>Earlier this year (Apr 3rd, 2010), the iPad launched with a Netflix application. The iPad killer app. Owners of the iPad could stream Netflix 'Watch Instantly' titles to their iPad. When people saw this app (myself included), they immediately asked, "When will this app be available for the iPhone and iPod touch?". Well, the wait is over. Owners of the iPhone and iPod touch can now (as of 26 Aug, 2010) download the app for any of the three devices. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, you can now watch Netflix on your iPhone. It's a small screen, but the portability outweighs any other consideration. If you've got an iPad - Great! If not (me and millions of others), you'll make due with the smaller screen - The iPhone (me) or iPod touch will satisfy your appetite for movies on the go.

I downloaded the app (on the 26th of Aug, 2010), installed it on my iPhone (which has been behaving of late), and fired it up. After entering my username and password, I was watching movies in no time. The quality was fine, but the sound out of the iPhone speakers was quite poor, so I hooked up some headphones. That was much better. Thankfully my iPhone was connected via wi-fi to my home network. I'm not sure whether the 3G network could actually keep up under the pressure of video-on-demand. After all, that would require the wireless providers to actually provide on the promise of their network. This new development will likely add more fuel to the fire in the telcos continuous complaints that their are too many demands on their fragile, overpriced, less than reliable networks. With bandwidth caps falling into place on all the wireless providers, the telcos are literally creating a tiered system by restricting your access to services through bandwidth caps. I'm starting to think that these bandwidth restrictions are more about increased revenue than anything else. If you want streaming video on your mobile device, you're going to have to pay for extra bandwidth.

The application is free (from the iTunes App Store), but Netflix isn't. If you pay $8.99 or more, you'll get unlimited 'Watch Instantly', which will allow you to watch thousands of Netflix titles on up to seven streaming devices. I currently have four devices (Roku x2, Samsung Blu-Ray player, iPhone) not counting web browsers on my computers. The application gives you access to your Netflix movie queue, you can search for movies (by title), or browse genres - Just like the interface on the Roku. Adding a title to your queue is quick and easy. The application responds quickly, and it's pretty easy to use. Unfortunately, as some have noted, you can't get the video out when running this app. So you can't hook it up to a TV while your away from home... On the other hand, it's now possible to watch Netflix on the iPhone - Hooray for Netflix!</rave>
<http://blog.netflix.com/2010/08/netflix-now-available-on-your-iphone.html>
<http://iTunes.com/apps/netflix>

More Free Downloads from eMusic:
<rave>Recently, eMusic (my digital music provider) offered free tracks/downloads to those who 'liked' them on FaceBook. eMusic is my digital music provider. They're my choice when it comes to subscription downloads. Every month I download 50+ tracks (50 download credits) from eMusic.com. This month (August of 2010) they decided to reward me with a bunch of downloads. Some (10 downloads) came as the result of me rating some albums. By rating my favorites, eMusic can help other members to find something they'll like. Another 15 downloads came purely as a result of their love for me. Hey, I've been with emusic since August of 2006, and every year around this time (my anniversary), they reward me with a 'Loyalty' bonus. Finally, being a FaceBook member and an eMusic subscriber was the right combination to collect another 5 downloads. Thanks to their 'Download Deals' I managed to convert those 30 downloads into 42 tracks!

Unlike some music outlets, eMusic doesn't have any DRM and they don't insert unique track id's into the ID3 tags. Their terms of service are consumer friendly; eMusic allows you to burn as many CDs as you like and copy downloads to an unlimited number of your computers and portable MP3 players, including the iPod and Zune (really?). At less than $.40 a track (I'm paying $19.99 for 50 downloads/month), it's a really good value - Especially when you factor in their 'Download Deals'. iTunes and Amazon still charge more. eMusic offers more music for your money, and the variable bit rate recordings make for exceptionally high quality recordings. So here's the final five of this month's bonus goodies! Thanks eMusic - Keep up the good work.</rave>

eMusic monthly downloads:
* You And Me And The Mountain - Maps & Atlases: (5 songs) An EP from a band I discovered just recently. The vocals and instruments are expertly laid down. Overlapping, never clashing, always contrasting. Their flavor of Indie-rock reminds me of early Talking Heads. It's got a touch of folk, some brave instrumentals, and exuberant lyrics. The drumming/percussion is highly impressive - for a Human!

These are some of the items I added to my music collection during this month. Since revamping my music collection back in September of 2005, I've been slowly adding, revising and updating the collection. If you have a comment, question or correction regarding my music collection, please don't hesitate to send me an email. Please keep in mind that my collection isn't for sale, and I'm not interested in giving you any copyrighted materials. I'd rather not go to jail for music piracy. :-)
<https://www.robsworld.org/music.html>
<http://www.emusic.com/>

Apple Security update 2010-05:
Apple is hard at work, making sure that Snow Leopard is running on all cylinders (in my case 8 - or 16 if you count the virtual threads). Finding security flaws, patching annoying bugs, improving the user experience. This particular update brings a slew of patches and security updates for the following applications and services under OS 10.5 and 10.6: Core Graphics, Apple Type Services, PHP, libsecurity, Samba, CFNetwork, ClamAV, and others. Most of the updates address arbitrary code execution vulnerabilities.

You can read all about these upgrades, bug fixes, security updates, and more by following the links I've provided below. I upgraded to Snow Leopard during August of 2009, and I have to say, the tweaking, enhancements and multi-core refinements have resulted in considerable speed improvements on my machine.You can read more about the update at Apple's website. Keeping my Mac safe from malicious hackers and such.
<http://www.apple.com/macosx/security/>
<http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4312>

Software favorites:
More software updates. These are productivity apps I use on my Mac. They're tools I use to publish my web pages, support my work with Neighborhood Watch, my D&D campaign, and other projects I'm involved in. Updates to Apple's suite of productivity software. Moving the suite up to version 9.0.4. iWork '09 consists of three applications: Pages (word processor/page layout), Keynote (presentation) and Numbers (spreadsheet). In addition to Apple's updates, I also downloaded another full release for one of my favorite software applications. GraphicConverter moves ever forward. As usual, developer has been busy updating this application. Here's another update for the product that's always getting better. All the updates are free for those who own a license. If you need a powerhouse converter, editor and browser for your graphics, grab a copy of GraphicConverter - You won't be disappointed.

iWork '09:
Apple's productivity suite is three applications and one online service. I'm running the following versions of the software: Pages 4.0.4 (614), Keynote 5.0.4 (633) and Numbers 2.0.4 (184) respectively.

iWork is Apple's productivity suite. Previous versions of iWork contained two applications, a bit anemic for a productivity suite. It was missing a crucial component. No spreadsheet application? In 2007, things changed. They added a spreadsheet application. Numbers is the newest addition to the productivity suite. With the addition of this new component. iWork became a feasible replacement for the venerable (and still useful) AppleWorks - which hasn't seen an update since 2004. iWork is also a home contender for Microsoft Office. Most home users don't need the power provided by Microsoft's productivity suite. iWork applications are Office compatible (No it's not 100% compatible, but it can open, edit and save as Office documents), and the pricing is far more affordable than the behemoth on the block. So, the addition of numbers, the fantastic price ($79.00 for three full feature productivity apps), the great reviews (that I've read), the compatibility (Office and AppleWorks) and the outstanding support that Apple provides, have enticed me to switch from AppleWorks to iWork. All of the iWork components contain web based output options, which is crucial for anyone creating web pages, or managing a web site.

iWork consists of three productivity applications and an online component:

Pages - A word processor and page layout application. The latest version (iWork '09) includes some great new features. A full screen mode to help you stay focused. A new dynamic outline mode allows you to 'drag-and-drop' to rearrange and restructure points and subpoints. Pages now features a mail-merge function capable of pulling address data from Numbers or the Mac OS address book. Getting more advanced, Pages now includes 'EndNote' for bibliography support and the 'MathType' equation editor. The 4.0.4 update adds an ePub export capability. Finally, as with all other iWork applications, this one includes iWork.com capability.

Keynote - Apple's outstanding presentation software. Adding some razzle-dazzle to the application, the '09 update offers numerous updates to make Keynote an industry standard presentation suite. Magic Move makes sophisticated animation a snap. An enhanced theme selection wizard makes this experience much more friendly and powerful. Powerful text and object transitions make your presentations move with a purpose. In charts you'll see new 3D textures and chart animations to help make your point. The 5.0.4 update adds an ePub export capability. Finally, as with all other iWork applications, this one includes iWork.com capability.

Numbers - Here is Apple's entry into the spreadsheet ring. Apple has taken a simplified approach to a complicated subject. Making spreadsheets even easier. Apple has improved the formula functions to include a more natural language, included explanations, and expanded the number of available formulas. With formula list view, you can view and edit all your formulas from a single interface. Wow no more hunting and searching for all those formulas! The table categories function allows you to organize, group, view and sort your data in ways you've never though possible. Numbers '09 adds many new charts and ways to represent data - linking data from all three applications. Like Keynote, now Numbers has a template chooser with 30 templates to chose from, your spreadsheets can have a pre-defined appearance. Something more sophisticated than simple columns and rows. Finally, as with all other iWork applications, this one includes iWork.com capability.

iWork.com - A new offering in the iWork suite of applications. Here is a free service (it's still in beta, and there are no indications as to pricing/the future of this service) that Apple has integrated into each of the suites applications. It's a web based file sharing, collaboration and display service. You can upload documents to the iWork.com server, and others can view, annotate, or download documents (as defined per document).

This recent iWork update (26 Aug 2010) addresses issues in Keynote, Pages, and Numbers, and adds export compatibility to Pages for the standard ePub file format (for use with iBooks). ePub format is a free and open e-book standard promulgated by the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF). For more information regarding this update, please see the knowledge base article.
<http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4165>
<http://www.apple.com/iwork/>

GraphicConverter:
Thorsten Lemke (of Lemkesoft) completed work on several updates over the past few weeks. This week I saw/downloaded the following update: 6.7.4. GraphicConverter is an image converter and editor. A fantastic piece of shareware that is well worth the price ($35.00). I use it to convert image formats into web standard formats, to create and edit image maps and other graphics. I've been singing GC's praises for many years now, and I'm not sure I would do without it. The best part about GC is it's author. Thorsten Lemke is completely committed to his customer base. Constantly and Continuously responding to customer recommendations and bug reports. GC is a dynamic, evolving, application. Always on the cutting edge, an absolute must in any web developers tool box. At a fraction of PhotoShop's cost, this photo editor puts a huge wrench in your toolbox.
<http://www.lemkesoft.com/content/193/key-features.html>

With these software updates, I've updated my Software Favorites page. It's primarily dedicated to web publishing for the Mac user. Not meant for the professional, It's my hope that home users and hobbyists will find it useful. It's a listing of applications that I find useful in publishing my web pages.
<https://www.robsworld.org/myfavs.html>

Blurry icons under Mac OS 10.6:
It's a problem which has been plaguing me of late. Recently; just this year, going back two months or so, I started to notice the onset of a particular problem plaguing my Mac's desktop. While I love the Mac OS, no operating system is without it's issues, and this is just one of those perplexing problems that seems to bother people in our age of super-computers and sophisticated communications devices. If you're familiar with my battles in the land of network connections, you know I don't give up easily when confronted with a technological challenge. This desktop dilemma is just the latest of those challenges.

A bit more detail - So the problem started occurring a few months back, and it's been getting progressively worse. This problem involves the icons in my Mac's Dock and the Application Switcher panel (invoked when you press command-tab). The Mac OS (In OS X v10.5 and later) uses 512 x 512 pixel images for the dock, application switcher and Finder in general. Each application and document has appropriately sized images embedded in the code for smaller sizes (for various reasons), but the 512 x 512 resource is supposed to be used when displaying icons in the Finder. Unfortunately, the problem plaguing me was slowly beginning to affect all the icons in my dock and application switcher (I hadn't noticed it affecting the Finder in general (finder windows)).

The effect I'm talking about? Instead of the typical, sharp, high-resolution (512 x 512) icons, I was starting to notice some incredibly low resolution icons (32 x 32?) in my dock and application switcher. It's nothing critical. It wasn't causing crashes (in my case), but it certainly was annoying. Being used to these magnificent 512x512 icons, I really didn't appreciate these blurry low-res icons. When these low-res icons are scaled up to 512 x 512 or 128 x 128 size (with a mouse over or other magnification effect), they appear blurry, out of focus or fuzzy. It's irritating, not at all Mac-like and quite annoying. Not one to let the problem persist, I began my quest to quash these blurry icons.

My first stop was the Apple Forums. While I found plenty of discussion regarding this 'issue', I couldn't find an 'Official' answer - Despite the claims in Apple's Forums, there really doesn't appear to be any 'answer'; a fact noted by several posters. I'm not sure why this problem hasn't been tackled by Apple's software engineers/experts. According to the forums, the problem - which may have been around as early as 2007 (Release of Leopard, Mac OS X 10.5) - seems to affect all models of Mac. It doesn't appear to be a hardware issue, and it's affecting those with Mac OS 10.5 and later (when the 512x512 icons were introduced). While some have reported the issue affecting icons in the Finder (Apple's file browser application), I've only noticed it in my Dock and Application Switcher.

I tried a couple of the remedies suggested in Apple's forums: Logging out/in, restarting the computer, repairing permissions, deleting various .DS_Store files, resetting preferences for the dock, the finder, and various other system level settings. Escalating the research beyond Apple's official forums, I find that the problem is being reported beyond the Apple website(s). It's even been reported on by 'cnet' and various other websites. Still the problem persisted... After reading numerous posts, troubleshooting efforts and observing the effect up close, I began to formulate my own 'solution'. Noting that it only appeared to affect my Dock and Application Switcher (If you're experiencing similar problems in the Finder, my 'fix' may not help you), I reasoned that the computer was looking in the wrong place (resource path) for the appropriate image resources. For some reason, it was displaying the lowest level of image resolution. Once it started displaying the lower resolution image, it wouldn't revert with a standard reboot, permissions repair, etc. It needed some serious resetting in order to make it access the appropriate resource(s).

Here's how I 'fixed' things: Open a Finder window. Select your Home Folder (folder/icon with the House badge/image), then open your Library folder. Navigate to the Preference folder. Locate and move the following files to the trash: 'com.apple.dock.plist' and 'com.apple.dock.db' (I believe you might not need to delete this later file). Once you've deleted the preference files, you should restart your Mac. Your Mac will create new preferences for the dock. Deleting the db file will delete all your dock settings, so you'll probably want to create a back-up, just in case (as with all troubleshooting, creating a backup/backing-up your system is always a good idea). While this action seems to have corrected the problem (for me), your mileage may vary. According to some reports, this fix may be temporary. I implemented this fix back on the 15th of August, and I haven't encountered renewed icon problems since.
<http://developer.apple.com/mac/library/documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/AppleHIGuidelines/XHIGIcons/XHIGIcons.html>
<http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2132399>
<http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-10402811-263.html>

August 21, 2010

Software favorites:
Yet another release for one of my favorite software applications. GraphicConverter moves ever forward. As usual, developer has been busy updating this application. Here's another beta release for the product that's always getting better. All the updates are free for those who own a license. If you need a powerhouse converter, editor and browser for your graphics, grab a copy of GraphicConverter - You won't be disappointed.

GraphicConverter:
Thorsten Lemke (of Lemkesoft) completed work on several updates over the past few weeks. This week I saw/downloaded the following beta update: 6.7.3b14. GraphicConverter is an image converter and editor. A fantastic piece of shareware that is well worth the price ($35.00). I use it to convert image formats into web standard formats, to create and edit image maps and other graphics. I've been singing GC's praises for many years now, and I'm not sure I would do without it. The best part about GC is it's author. Thorsten Lemke is completely committed to his customer base. Constantly and Continuously responding to customer recommendations and bug reports. GC is a dynamic, evolving, application. Always on the cutting edge, an absolute must in any web developers tool box. At a fraction of PhotoShop's cost, this photo editor puts a huge wrench in your toolbox.
<http://www.lemkesoft.com/content/193/key-features.html>

With this software update, I've updated my Software Favorites page. It's primarily dedicated to web publishing for the Mac user. Not meant for the professional, It's my hope that home users and hobbyists will find it useful. It's a listing of applications that I find useful in publishing my web pages.
<https://www.robsworld.org/myfavs.html>

Vaessen Family Genealogy:
I haven't updated my family genealogy pages since December of 2009. Recently I received an email and some information from a distant relative. A grand-daughter of my great-uncle Hoop Vaessen. Lorrie wrote me with some information regarding Hoop and his family. Thanks to Lorrie's update, I was able to complete some updates to my genealogy data. In addition to the updated info, I also updated my genealogy software (a new version of 'MacFamilyTree'). As a result of these developments I update my genealogy web pages.

Thanks to some considerable assistance from some Dutch Vaessen's, I've been able to trace my family history back to 1526 (With a partial history back to 1125). If you're interested in the history of the Vaessen name, check out my Vaessen family genealogy pages. The information was compiled and posted using 'MacFamilyTree' software. The software is capable of importing or exporting genealogy data in various different formats, including HTML and GEDCOM standard .ged files.

If you are a member of the Vaessen family, or you're interested in the Vaessen family history, I welcome any corrections, additions or elaborations. Please feel free to write me with any relevant information.
<https://www.robsworld.org/genealogy/vaessen_family/vaessenfamily/index.html>
<http://www.syniumsoftware.com/macfamilytree/>
<https://www.robsworld.org/wapen.png>

* Welcome: The website's opener. A page containing an introduction to our community website. Here you'll find all the latest news and announcements. I added a banner to the Welcome page for an upcomming 'Household Cleaner Roundup'. I linked the banner to our Neighborhood Watch website. See the Events page (on the Neighborhood Watch website) for more details.

25 Free Downloads from eMusic:
<rave>Recently, eMusic (my digital music provider) decided to reward me with a bunch of download lovin' bonus tracks. eMusic is my digital music provider. They're my choice when it comes to subscription downloads. Every month I download 50+ tracks (50 download credits) from eMusic.com. This month (August of 2010) they decided to reward me with a bunch of downloads. Some (10 downloads) came as the result of me rating some albums. By rating my favorites, eMusic can help other members to find something they'll like. Another 15 downloads came purely as a result of their love for me. Hey, I've been with emusic since August of 2006, and every year around this time (my anniversary), they reward me with a 'Loyalty' bonus. Thanks to their 'Download Deals' I managed to convert that 25 downloads into 37 tracks!

Unlike some music outlets, eMusic doesn't have any DRM and they don't insert unique track id's into the ID3 tags. Their terms of service are consumer friendly; eMusic allows you to burn as many CDs as you like and copy downloads to an unlimited number of your computers and portable MP3 players, including the iPod and Zune (really?). At less than $.40 a track (I'm paying $19.99 for 50 downloads/month), it's a really good value - Especially when you factor in their 'Download Deals'. iTunes and Amazon still charge more. eMusic offers more music for your money, and the variable bit rate recordings make for exceptionally high quality recordings. So here's the list of this month's bonus goodies! Thanks eMusic - Keep up the good work.</rave>

eMusic monthly downloads:
* Monsters of Folk - Monsters of Folk: (15 songs) I like folk music, and here's a download that just makes sense to me. It's a supergroup composed of four great artists. Jim James from My Morning Jacket, Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis from Bright Eyes and singer-songwriter M. Ward. It's alternative folk by a bunch of great artists, and I'm definitely enjoying it. Thanks to Ian for suggesting this one.
* Greatest Hits - Joan Jett and the Blackhearts: (21 songs) I may not have admitted it back in the 80s, but I really liked the talent of Joan Jett. I'd pretty much forgotten how awesome she was until I watched a movie called 'The Runaways' - Ostensibly, Cherie Currie was the focus of that band/documentary, but Joan Jett totally stole the show - in the movie (the actress Kristen Stewart) and in real life (Joan Jett the musician). After watching the movie, I had to have more. I added this compilation, and it's awesome.
* The Howling (Radio Edit) - The Phantom Band: (single) I'm not sure what site, blog, newsletter turned me on, but I'm loving the leisurely pace of this Scottish quintet. Great vocals, lyrics, and some wonderful variation in the playlist. Proto-robo-rock with synthesized stylings propel this band into a ascending groove. Here's a radio version from their Checkmate Savage album (I downloaded that album back in July of 2009).

August 18, 2010

Updating my Dension GW500:
Back in December of 2008 I purchased a new stereo device for my vehicle. Not really a stereo, not quite an iPod, it's kind of hard to describe. Getting tired of the poor reception, quality and functionality of FM transmitters, I was looking for an iPod integration solution. I drive a 2004 XC90, and unfortunately it entered production a bit late for the iPod integration craze. With a fiber-optic stereo system, and no aux-in jack, it doesn't allow for easy input from auxiliary devices. The fiber-optic system is a bit of a closed loop, but there are a few devices that let you hack into the loop. One of those devices is the Dension GW500 (not made by 'Denison' - spelling is 'Dension'). I purchased this 'gateway' from Enfig car stereo. It's a device gateway for controlling an iPod (also compatible with other devices/flash drives). It allows me to control my iPod Classic through the car stereo.

It took me some time to get the gateway installed (in my Volvo XC90) and running properly. After Best Buy failed to install the gateway, I had Car Toys install the device. The device cost $560.00 and the installation cost $125.00. It took quite some time to get the device installed, and operating it is less than intuitive. After years of practice, I'm finally comfortable with the GW500. That's when I decided to update the firmware. It's been more than a year since I upgraded the firmware, so I thought I'd bump up the version number. There were a few features and bug fixes I wanted to apply.

Unfortunately, nothing is ever easy when it comes to technology... Following the instructions was a bit difficult. The company that makes the GW500 is based in Budapest, Hungary, and the translated materials are sometimes difficult to understand. Following the instructions to the best of my ability just wasn't good enough. I downloaded the latest firmware, copied it to the root level of a flash drive, and took it out to the garage. My attempts to get the new firmware installed met with complete failure. Thankfully I didn't mess up the gateway too badly. I was still able to use the device, but nothing I did resulted in a firmware update.

<rave>I turned to the internet for a solution. After days of searching, I was still unable to find a solution. I tried a few recommended methods to update the firmware, but nothing worked. I eventually opened a trouble-ticket with the Dension 'help-desk'. They were quick to respond, and with their help, I was finally able to update the firmware. For some reason, the update wouldn't take unless I had some MP3s on the flash drive. So, along with the firmware update, I added four MP3s to the flash drive. After USB connecting the flash drive with MP3s, the firmware flashed to the the Gateway. With the new firmware installed, the Gateway wrote a .BIN to my flash drive. the GW_EES.BIN file indicated a successful upgrade to version 2.22. Thankfully, Dension's help desk was quick to respond and willing to help me solve the problem. They didn't simply regurgitate the documented instructions, they were actually helpful!</rave>
<http://www.dension.com/index.php?pageID=11>

Roku up and Running:
<rave>I've been a Roku owner since August of 2008. I purchased and set up my first Roku player back in August of 2008, and I've been loving it ever since. What's a Roku player? Well, I'm glad you asked. If you like movies, if you're a Netflix freak like me, it's the ultimate movie delivery system. It's a movie watcher's Nirvana. A Roku player is a little black box (5" x 5" x 2") with cables and a remote. You can order directly from the manufacturer or find it available through other online shopping portals.

This time around, I purchased the newest Roku player - The Roku HD-XR. This set-top box connects to your TV using one of several outputs. Composite video, S-Video, Component video or HDMI (I'm currently using Composite, more on that later). For audio you've got a choice of L/R RCA Audio, Optical audio or audio via HDMI (I'm currently using L/R RCA, more on that later). For network connectivity, the XR box offers two choices: Ethernet or 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi. There's even a USB port for future use? FYI - The Roku player doesn't require any extra fees to access the Netflix watch instantly catalog (just your normal 'unlimited' Netflix account), and you don't need a special disc.

It took me less than 10 minutes to get the Roku hooked up to the 52" flat-panel in my living room. I bought this one for the living room. The other one (an original Roku player (now branded as the Roku HD)) is in our bedroom. It didn't take much effort to get the player connected. I didn't even read the printed directions/instructions. I just plugged it in (I originally used the included Component cables - I didn't have a spare HDMI cable), switched on the TV, and followed the onscreen instructions. The Roku player requires it's own connection to the internet, and you'll really need broadband service to take advantage of this media streaming appliance. I connected it to an ethernet switch (in the living room), and that's connected to my router (an Apple TimeCapsule). Finally, if you want to watch Netflix through the Roku player, you'll need a Netflix account (you'll want a plan that includes unlimited streaming/Watch Instantly). Thankfully, Netflix allows you to register more than one device (not counting browser based streaming) for streaming. This is my third such device.

Logitech 550 While I originally connected my Roku Player using Component cables, I really wanted an HDMI cable in order to watch video in 720p HD format. I ordered a few cables from an Amazon vendor (SF Planet). It took a few days for my $0.26 cables to arrive, but now I'm watching the HD video. Yes, you read that correctly $0.26 - aka 26 cents! With the video squared away, I turned to my remote. I use a Logitech Harmony 550 to control all the components (9 devices) in my entertainment center. It's a highly capable, programmable remote with plenty of features. The software used to program the remote is a bit difficult to use. Actually - It's very difficult, non-intuitive, and frustrating. However, once you've got the remote programmed properly, you'll breathe a welcome sigh of relief. Most problems in operations are solved by pressing the 'Help' key. Which seems to solve any problem. When programming the remote keep these few steps in mind: First - Add the new device (in this case the Roku Player), Second - Create an 'Activity' which makes use of that device (in this case 'Watch Roku'). While programming the remote, I encountered one problem which needs to be mentioned. When adding the Roku as a device, there was no 'preset' option for a Roku Player. I used the following steps in order to add the Roku Remote functions:

Select Device: Video Recorder -> PVR, Select Manufacturer: Not Listed (type in Roku), Select Model: N1000 (type it in). Once I did this, the rest of the set-up went smoothly. Unfortunately, finding this information wasn't exactly easy. Why the Harmony doesn't have the Roku remote in it's list of devices is beyond me. They've got a crap load of crappy devices in there, why don't they have this mega-awesome device in the list? I also had a problem with the 'Ok' or 'Select' key. I had a bit of difficulty getting that set up to perform the 'Home' function. Getting the Harmony 550 programmed wasn't easy, but I'd rather struggle through the programming than need to use three different remotes (Roku, Receiver, Television).

With my current NetFlix plan (4 out at a time for $23.99 a month), I'm permitted unlimited streaming/watch instant movies. You can even watch more than one movie at a time - If you have more than one Roku player. The Roku isn't restricted to just Netflix, it's chock full of video and audio channels. In addition to the featured channels, the Roku also allows 'private' channels, and there's a serious developer effort supporting the addition of new channels and features. It's about time someone realized the promise of streaming video at a reasonable cost for the consumer.</rave>
<http://www.roku.com/netflixplayer/>
<http://www.netflix.com/NetflixReadyDevices>

Software favorites:
A few more releases for some of my favorite software applications. GraphicConverter moves ever forward. As usual, developer has been busy updating this application. Here's set of beta updates for the product that's always getting better. More free updates for those who own a license. If you need a powerhouse converter, editor and browser for your graphics, grab a copy of GraphicConverter - You won't be disappointed. In addition to the GraphicConverter update, I also updated my copy of XQuartz.

GraphicConverter:
Thorsten Lemke (of Lemkesoft) continues working to improve this software. Constantly working behind the scenes, he's always tweaking, improving and fixing all those little bugs that crop up. This week I saw/downloaded the latest beta release - Version 6.7.4b13. GraphicConverter is an image converter and editor. A fantastic piece of shareware that is well worth the price ($35.00). I use it to convert image formats into web standard formats, to create and edit image maps and other graphics. I've been singing GC's praises for many years now, and I'm not sure I would do without it. The best part about GC is it's author. Thorsten Lemke is completely committed to his customer base. Constantly and Continuously responding to customer recommendations and bug reports. GC is a dynamic, evolving, application. Always on the cutting edge, an absolute must in any web developers tool box. At a fraction of PhotoShop's cost, this photo editor puts a huge wrench in your toolbox.
<http://www.lemkesoft.com/xd/public/content/index._cGlkPTE5Mw_.html>

X11:
One of the best things about OSX? - it's really Unix! I'm running X11/XQuartz 2.5.3 available from MacOS Forge

I've been using Unix longer than I've been using Mac's, so I knew about the power potential when I found out that OSX was going to be based on Unix. Some of the most powerful Unix applications (see The GIMP above) run on any OSX equipped Mac. In order to run all these fantastic applications you need nothing more than Apple's version of X11 (which comes free with OSX, or you can download and install other versions). If you want to get a bit more advanced, you can use Fink or Macports with your OSX equipped Mac. Once you get your X Windows environment running, you'll find thousands of Unix applications that have been a well kept secret for all this time.

Getting Unix apps up and running on your Mac isn't always as easy as downloading and double clicking, but the following links should help you get started.
<http://developer.apple.com/opensource/tools/X11.html>
<http://developer.apple.com/opensource/tools/runningx11.html>
<http://www.macports.org/>
<http://www.finkproject.org/>

iOS 4.0.2 - Will it help?:
<rant>I'm a bit of an Apple Fan Boy, and that's no secret. I have to admit that I like Apple's products. They usually meet or exceed my expectations, and based on my experience, I'll turn to them for before I pick a competitor's product. Even if they cost more... With that said, I've recently experienced a disappointing incident when it comes to my iPhone. Starting on the 24th of July; possibly sooner, I started encountering a troubling number of problems (see 'iPhone Troubles' entry below) with my 3GS iPhone (the 16GB model). While I'd recently upgraded to iOS 4.0 and more recently to iOS 4.0.1, it's hard to say which of these updates may have caused the problem. As I said, I started to notice the problem on the 24th of July. I don't use my iPhone every day. So tracing the problems back to a specific incident (iOS install) is a bit problematic.

More recently, I installed the latest iPhone OS update (iOS 4.0.2). This particular update was primarily intended to patch a particular pdf vulnerability. A vulnerability used in a JailBreaking routine/technique. With only two listed flaws on the patch, it's quite evident that Apple considers 'Jailbreaking' a threat to their platform. Despite the court's recent ruling regarding the legality of jailbreaking. Granted the jailbreaking technique used a security vulnerability as a means of achieving root. However, the swiftness of Apple's response belies a greater concern. So, will this particular security patch help resolve my problems? I doubt it. I sincerely doubt it. It seems as if the actual problems with Apple's latest OS upgrade (to iOS 4.0), are taking back seat to a relatively minor security flaw... Keep in mind that I'm not the only one having OS related (what appear to be OS related) problems. The reports are finally beginning to blanket the tech community. Apple - We have a problem here!

Blaming my iPhone problems on 'corrupt data' (that's essentially what the AppleCare technician did) is a pretty sucky way of saying "we've got a problem with iOS 4". I explained all my symptoms/issues to the Apple Care technician - Call 1-800-Myiphone. I had already tried most of the things the technician recommended, and he eventually indicated that the new iOS update 'may be more sensitive to corrupt data on the phone'. He recommended that I restore the phone as if it were a new iPhone, as the problems persisted despite my attempts to restart and restore from backup. After I restored the phone, I was supposed to load my data back onto the phone - a little bit at a time, until I'm able to identify the 'corrupt data'.

I had to restore the phone twice. The first time I restored I encountered problems when I enabled 'MobileMe' 'over the air' syncing. I disabled that, and restored the phone a second time. Since then I've been slowly adding data back onto the phone. Piece by piece, trying to locate any 'corrupt data'. At the moment, I've got music, contacts, calendars, email accounts, bookmarks, a ringtone, podcasts and my photos installed. Next up - Apps. Unfortunately, it may take me another couple of weeks to complete this troubleshooting process.

This sucks! It's going to take me forever to figure out what the 'Corrupt Data' is. If there is any corrupt data. I don't have all day to do troubleshooting. I may get paid for troubleshooting at work, but I don't have time for that at home. I expect that Apple should have run a vigorous beta testing program prior to the OS release. Unfortunately, I get the feeling that they're so secretive about the upgrades that they refuse to seed a large beta testing group. I'm not the only one with these problems. Thousands of people are having problems like mine. Just check the Interwebs, you'll see what I'm talking about. This iOS update (4.0) really had some bad code in it, and Apple is acting as if every one of us has 'Corrupt Data' on our phones. Yeah, we've got 'Corrupt Data'. It's the iOS update that's corrupt. Apple really needs to troubleshoot this themselves, and push out another update. They need to fix their update.

In the meantime, my iPhone is partially crippled. I'm not able to use it as I'd like. I paid plenty of money for this shiny glass and aluminum phone, and I expect it to perform in the manner advertised. Right now it's not living up to it's hype!</rant>
<http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/07/28/apple-investigates-reports-of-problems-with-ios4-on-iphone-3g/>
<http://forums.wireless.att.com/t5/Apple/Iphone-OS-4-0-serious-problems/td-p/1949577>
<http://discussions.info.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2491310&tstart=-3>
<http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19512_7-20012962-233.html>
<http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4291>

August 12, 2010

How much should you pay for an HDMI cable?
<rant>Recently, I purchased a new set-top box for my Home Entertainment center. I purchased a new Roku player (see below). This new device included a set of component cables (yellow for component. red & white for stereo audio), but it didn't come with an HDMI cable. I've got plenty of coax, composite, RCA connector component cables. I've even got a couple of digital audio cables. What I didn't have was a spare HDMI cable. I really need an HDMI cable to take advantage of the player's HD video capability. Once again I went shopping for that overpriced commodity - the HDMI cable. Checking BestBuy and the other big box stores reveals prices in the range of $35.00 - $250.00 (for 35' of cable) - Ouch! That's a lot of money for some copper wrapped in an insulating mesh. The lowest price I found (in the store) was $18.00 from WalMart. $18.00 for a single 3' HDMI cable! Unfortunately, it wasn't even As a matter of fact, the prices have actually gone up since last year around this time. </rant>

<rave>Why do they charge so much for this relatively low cost item? The manufacturing process is fairly simple, there's no moving parts, and the components are very cheap. I can't figure it out. So, off to Amazon we go. Guess what? Prices below $1.00 aren't unheard of! I paid $0.26 a piece! With express shipping and handling, I purchased four HDMI cables for $22.03 - Take That BestBuy! Yes, copper wire is cheap when the manufacturers produce huge spools of the stuff. How did they manage a $0.26 price? I have no idea. Guess what? They're working fine; no problems noted. It's not the first time I've purchased these 'cheap' HDMI cables. I bought a set back in June of '09, and they're working fine. They haven't started on fire, fallen apart or caused signal/communications problems in my entertainment center.

There's more than one company selling HDMI cables for less than a dollar, so please check the seller ratings before you hand out your credit card number. Whatever you do, don't pay more than $1.00 for that HDMI cable! Those big box stores are totally ripping you off.</rave>

Roku Rules!
<rave>I've been a Roku owner since August of 2008. I purchased and set up my first Roku player back in August of 2008, and I've been loving it ever since. What's a Roku player? Well, I'm glad you asked. If you like movies, if you're a Netflix freak like me, it's the ultimate movie delivery system. It's a movie watcher's Nirvana. A Roku player is a little black box (5" x 5" x 2") with cables and a remote. You can order directly from the manufacturer or find it available through other online shopping portals.

It took me less than 10 minutes to get the Roku hooked up to the 52" flat-panel in my living room. I bought this one for the living room. The other one (an original Roku player (now branded as the Roku HD)) is in our bedroom. It didn't take much effort to get the player connected. I didn't even read the printed directions/instructions. I just plugged it in (I used the included Component cables for now. I had to order a new HDMI cable, which I'll use later), switched on the TV, and followed the onscreen instructions. The Roku player requires it's own connection to the internet, and you'll really need broadband service to take advantage of this media streaming appliance. I connected it to a router switch (in the living room), that's connected to my router (an Apple TimeCapsule), and the streaming is working great at this point. Finally, if you want to watch Netflix through the Roku player, you'll need a Netflix account (you'll want a plan that includes unlimited streaming/Watch Instantly). Thankfully, Netflix allows you to register more than one device (not counting browser based streaming) for streaming; I've got three.

With the Roku up and running, I can watch unlimited Netflix movies on my television! But that's not all - The Roku player isn't a one-trick pony. It gives you access to a huge number of streaming services. Audio and video. Pay and free. HD and SD. Here's a small sample of the content available through the Roku player:

Pay services:
- Netflix - According to Wikipedia (last time I checked - Aug 12, 2010), there are 17,000+ titles available. Some titles are even streamed in HD format. The Netflix interface on the Roku player has some awesome features. Of course you can see your 'Watch Instantly' queue, but that's not all. There's also title search and browse by genre capabilities.
- Amazon video - With over 75,000 titles. The prices are fairly low - New releases for $3.99 or less (as of 13 Aug, 2010). Lower than those on my AppleTV.
- UFC - If you enjoy the violence of men hitting each other (I'm not a fan), you can catch all the hottest matches with a paid UFC vault subscription.
- BIGSTAR.tv - Free and premium services. Independent movies channel. Pay services start at $4.99 per month. Includes a plan with explicit/adult films.
- MLB.TV - Like baseball? You can watch all the games on your TV. All you need is an MLB.TV membership.
- MP3tunes - Store your iTunes music collection in the cloud. Listen to your music and playlists through your Roku player. Free and pay plans (more storage with $).
- Drive-In classics - Late night horror and sci-fi. Monster movies you might have seen at the drive-in theater. $3.00 for the entire year.
- Moonlight Movies - Classic movies from the 30s - 70s. Drama, romance, suspense, comedy - Just about every genre except horror, sci-fi, kung-fu and western.
Free Channels:
- Flixster - Movie previews (including some in HD) and reviews from Rotten Tomatoes - If you don't see the trailer you're looking for, use the search tool.
- Pandora - Sign up online and create your own customized music channel. Stream the free music channel to your Roku player. Discover some new music today.
- Roku Newscaster - Check out video from various news sources - CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox, 60 Minutes. Current news and information straight from the studios.
- RadioTime - Radio stations from all around the world, on demand, in high quality audio format. Over 20,000 live streaming radio stations.
- Revision3 - Podcasts covering all manner of topics. Tech, gaming and independent episodic internet tv. Tons of content.
- TwitTV - Podcasts covering a wide variety of current topics. Over 15 daily and weekly shows. Leo Laporte's netcast network on the Roku.
- Mediafly - Thousands of independent Internet TV programs from every genre. It's a huge portal for internet content.
- NASA TV - If you're a space junkie, this is the channel for you.

This is just a small list of the channels available through the Roku player. The available channels grow daily, and there's a strong developer community constantly improving, experimenting and pushing the platform to make it the ultimate set-top device. Browsing titles in your instant queue is easy to do with the included remote, and I'm planning to program my universal remote (a Harmony 550) to cut down on redundancy. You can access a short synopsis of the movies, set a NetFlix rating, and remove items from the queue using the menu displayed on your TV. Recently they added a couple of features I'd asked for. Now you can search by title or browse the entire list of available instant watch titles by genres. Awesome!

Watching movies is a snap. A simple click of the remote starts the download, and you're watching the movie in seconds. It only downloads a small portion of the movie - Just enough to get you going, as you watch the movie it downloads and dumps successive portions of the movie, making for a smooth viewing experience with no long wait times. The playback was excellent quality (given the fact that I have a high-speed Comcast connection (standard residential internet option in the Aurora, Colorado area)). I haven't experienced any lag, the audio is perfectly synched, and the quality is awesome (especially the HD) for a streaming video connection. As a matter of fact, it's better quality playback than I get with the Comcast pay-per-view option - Awesome!

With my current NetFlix plan (4 out at a time for $23.99 a month), I'm permitted unlimited streaming/watch instant movies. You can even watch more than one movie at a time - If you have more than one Roku player. It's about time someone realized the promise of streaming video at a reasonable cost for the consumer.</rave>
<http://www.roku.com/netflixplayer/>
<http://www.netflix.com/NetflixReadyDevices>

Netflix adds EPIX content to Watch Instantly:
It's a new content deal for Netflix - Good news for members, good news for Netflix, good news for EPIX. Good news all around. O.k. we'll assume you know who Netflix is, but who is 'Epix'? Well, they're an on-demand video provider. A joint venture between Viacom/Paramount Pictures, MGM Studios, and Lionsgate. They stream movies/entertainment content (in SD and HD) from all three studios. Their service is packaged with other content providers (cable, telco & satellite) like: Verizon FiOS, DISH Network, Cox Communications, Mediacom, Charter Communications and NCTC. They provide movies to ISPs; making an expansive collection (3,000+ titles) of movies available to more than 30 million homes. Now Netflix is carrying their content.

What does this mean for Netflix subscribers? Well, if you're already receiving Epix through one of these ISPs/Content providers, then you'll be able to instant watch EPIX movies through your Netflix account (Starting 1 Sep, 2010). And here's the good part - At No Extra Cost! Not all their titles are available, but on another note, some of those movies are New Releases! So, you won't have to wait years for some titles to show up on Netflix. Many of these new releases (Such as Iron Man 2, Dinner for Schmucks and The Expendables) will now be available (via EPIX on Netflix) 90 days after their premium (pay per view, etc) release dates. The only sour note in this announcement? If you're not getting EPIX titles through your ISP/content/broadband provider, then you can't watch the EPIX titles through Netflix.
<http://corp.epixhd.com/press/releases/index.php?release=http://epixnews.tumblr.com/post/931723470>
<http://netflix.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=365>

Updates to the Tollgate Crossing Website:
My odd-ball schedule actually works in my favor for some things. A couple of those activities are the community support activities which I enjoy - Volunteering with our local neighborhood watch, and supporting our community by maintaining the Tollgate Crossing website and mailing lists. While it started out as a website focused primarily on our Neighborhood Watch (which was originally confined to the Tollgate Crossing community), it quickly grew to encompass the whole of our community, in the form of an expanded website and a variety of email mailing lists. Later, I spun the Neighborhood Watch portions off to form it's/their own website. Now the Tollgate Crossing website is focused on the Tollgate Crossing community, with a few links to the Neighborhood Watch website. Here are a few changes I made at our community website in the last few days:

* Welcome: The website's opener. A page containing an introduction to our community website. Here you'll find all the latest news and announcements. I removed the banner for the 2010 National Night Out celebration (which happened on the 3rd of August). I corrected some formatting errors on the page. I updated the graphic regarding the community pool; adding dates and times for the pool. Finally, I updated the date for our next HOA meeting (14 Sep, 2010). See our Events page for more details.
* Events: A detailed listing of upcoming and recurring events in and around Tollgate Crossing. Here is more detailed information regarding some of the events you may have read about on the 'Welcome' page. It's also a place to look for long term/recurring events. I updated two event announcements. The next HOA meeting will be held 14 Sep, 2010. Our next Metro District meeting is 24 Aug, 2010. In addition to these event updates, I also corrected an email address. The email address for our Metro District assistant manager <mathew.mendisco@cliftoncpa.com> was typed wrong and didn't work. Thanks go to Julie Mann for spotting that typo. I really appreciate all the help I get from Tollgate Crossing residents. Eagle-eyed folks like Julie help me keep the website accurate and timely - Thanks for the feedback. For more information see our Events page.

More Network woes caused by my Squeezebox Radio:
I purchased a Logitech Squeezebox radio a couple of months ago (ordered from Amazon on the 22nd of March). It arrived (via USPS) on the 1st of April, and I set it up immediately. What a fantastic appliance! With Wi-Fi running throughout the house, the Squeezebox stays connected* everywhere in the house. It even works in the garage, on the front porch, and out back. I guess I put my Wi-Fi router (Apple's TimeCapsule) in the right place. Thousands of audio channels are now available on demand, or streaming live. The radio is highly programmable, and customizable. With the Wi-Fi radio, I've got instant access to free local stations from every corner of the internet. Access to music services such as Pandora, Slacker and Rhapsody. You can even connect and stream your music library to any room in your house. This little gem even has a (highly customizable) 7 day programmable alarm, line in for your iPod, ability to play XM/Sirius (with a paid subscription), media streaming software and a big enough speaker to fill the room. It works with Mac, Windows and various Unix varieties. Check it out. If you're looking to liberate your internet audio, this device should satiate your appetite.

<rant>*O.k. So, I've been listening to my squeezebox for some time now, and I've encountered, as with any Wi-Fi appliance, problems... If I reboot my computer, the Squeezebox is completely unable to find my personal music library. On a few occasions (I don't reboot my computer very often. Only rebooting as necessary means once or twice a month) I rebooted my computer, only to discover that my Squeezebox could no longer connect to my music collection. Here's a few particulars: I keep my music collection on a NAS (Network Attached Server) separate from my computer. The music, podcasts, and many videos, are stored on this NAS. The NAS is connected to my network via ethernet. It usually runs without a hitch... Unfortunately, whenever I restart the computer, the Squeezebox is unable to reconnect to my music library. The server software can't locate my Squeezebox radio, and the Squeezebox radio can't connect to my music library. It doesn't have a problem getting re-connected to my network, and I can still use it to stream internet audio/content. Unfortunately, I want to listen to 'my content' - Podcasts and music. I want to stream this content through the Squeezebox Radio.

The first time the problem occurred, I didn't know what had happened, and it took me a day or so to get it working again. Unfortunately, I didn't know what it was that I did in order to get it working again. It just started working again! Great - Next time it happened, I struggled for three days before I was able to get back to my music. Troubleshooting from those three days are listed below. Unfortunately, with the problem recurring, I found that those steps just didn't work. I must have skipped a step. So it was back to the drawing board. Thankfully, I'd had this problem before, and was better prepared during this round of troubleshooting. After approximately four hours of troubleshooting, I've revised the steps necessary to restore full connectivity. After a computer reboot follow these procedures:

Unplug the Squeezebox radio.
Shutdown the Squeezebox server running on my computer.
Perform a shutdown of the computer.
Shutdown the NAS/power it off.
While the computer is shutdown, unplug the cable modem.
Then unplug the router (I use a TimeCapsule).
After a sufficient wait (a minute or so for each device), plug the modem back in. Wait for it to boot up.
Restart the router by plugging it back in. Wait until it's completely booted (green light).
Restart the NAS by plugging it back in. Wait for it to restart completely.
Power up the computer (Might take the opportunity to run diagnostic routines/rebuild permissions, etc in single user mode (I use 'AppleJack' for this)). Wait for it to reboot.
Log in to the computer. Wait for all applications to start.
Restart the Squeezebox server software.
Plug in the Squeezebox radio.
After the Squeezebox radio reconnects to the Wi-Fi network (I haven't had a problem here), connect to the Squeezebox.com server/service.
Play a radio station/live audio stream to confirm connectivity with Squeezebox.com.
Return to the SBR home screen. Now select 'My Music'. At this point I should be connected to the SBS running on my desktop. This will allow access to my music on the NAS.
On the SBS web page (port 9000), choose player 'Squeezebox Radio'. Confirm ability to control the radio through the web interface.

Wow! Could anything be simpler? I'm not sure why, but to me - this seems a bit difficult. Maybe putting my music on a NAS (The Squeezebox server software isn't running on the NAS (it won't run on the NAS)) is part of the problem? but this is utterly ridiculous. It took me several days of searching through online forums (no one had my exact problem), troubleshooting network issues and dealing with firewalls in order to come up with this solution, and I still don't know whether this will work the next time I have a problem. It is possible that I may have a couple of unnecessary steps in the list above, but I don't have the time to conduct additional troubleshooting. I just hope that anyone with similar problems might find this article/posting useful. Until next time...</rant>
<http://www.logitechsqueezebox.com/products/squeezebox-radio.html>

Death to spammers!
Beginning on the 9th of August, 2010 a spammer launched a spew campaign with my email address in the spam's Reply-To: address field. I've been busy reporting spam lately. I received 2,236 spam messages during the month of July. Reporting spam sometimes has an unintended (unintended on my part) side-effect. It makes the spammers angry, angry enough to try and take it out on me. They try to get me shut down by pretending to be me when they send their spam. They forge my email address, and hope that I'll get tagged as a spammer. As a result of this forgery, I received an auto-generated blow-back message. This server generated message was sent to me in response to spam sent to some unsuspecting internet user. Hopefully, there won't be any measurable effects on my domain or its standing. I haven't been black listed yet, not that I know of anyway. Oh how I hate spammers!
<https://www.robsworld.org/forgery.html>

Southeast Aurora Neighborhood Watch website:
My odd-ball schedule actually works in my favor for some things. A couple of those activities are the community support activities which I enjoy - Volunteering with our local neighborhood watch, maintaining the Southeast Aurora Neighborhood Watch website and mailing lists. Here are some of the changes I made at our Neighborhood Watch website in the last few days:

* Current: A web page dedicated to the most recent news, announcements and information. On the Current page, I removed the banner for the 2010 National Night Out celebration (which happened on the 3rd of August). I added a new banner with links to some photos - Photos from the NNO celebrations (in Tollgate Crossing and Beacon Point communities). I added a new banner for an upcoming Household Chemical Roundup (11 Sep). Finally, I removed the banner and video about garage doors.
* Events: A listing of upcoming and recurring events in you Southeast Aurora Neighborhood. Events sponsored by or relevant to our Neighborhood Watch. I updated some information on our Events page. Removed entries for the National Night Out, and added details regarding the Household Chemical Roundup mentioned above.
* Volunteer: On this page we list various volunteer opportunities for civic minded members of our community. On the Volunteer page, I removed a call for volunteers for our annual NNO celebration. If you were one of the volunteers, Judy sends her regards and wishes to thank everyone who came out to volunteer or participate in this years event. Thanks for making NNO a great success.

August 7, 2010

Star Trek - The Original Series:
I've been a fan of the original Star Trek series ever since it came out. I watched it as a kid when I was growing up (Yow! that makes me... old?), I loved it back then, and I still love it. My friends and I used to pretend to be members of the 'Starship Enterprise', and this television series was a great source of imaginative exercise while I was growing up. I've often wanted to buy a copy, but the price had always been somewhat restrictive. A VHS collection was an option, back in the 80s, but tape just doesn't last that long, and I knew I'd be watching these shows many times. DVDs came out, and once again the price was high. I remember seeing prices in the hundreds of dollars... Still too high. Then in 2006, Paramount started restoring and remastering the original series. I figured I'd wait until they were done, before I bought the DVDs, or maybe, Blu-Ray? Well, by 2007 they'd finished the remastering project, but they announced an HD/DVD hybrid release... Well, Toshiba dropped out of the HD format war (Sony won with the Blu-Ray format for HD). That set my plans back yet again. Once again I waited. By August of 2008, Paramount was offering remastered shows on DVD (season 1 still wasn't released as a standard DVD - it remained HD/DVD hybrid), but the price was very high and the availability was sketchy. You can still find these DVD sets for sale on Amazon for $188.49 (for all three seasons), and that's a price drop. They were selling for $249.98. Still too expensive! By 2009 some of the shows were available on Blu-Ray, but I couldn't find the entire collection, and the price was still too high. It wasn't until 2010, that the 40th anniversary, remastered series was widely available on Blu-Ray. The price? (according to Amazon (09 Aug 2010)) $176.49, and that's a price drop. They were selling for $321.99 - Holy Crap! Are they serious? Used copies of the Blu-Ray are actually selling for more ($200+) than the current Amazon price. Man, Paramount sure did screw up the marketing and release of the remastered shows.

<rave>When it seemed like all hope was lost, I discovered (in May of 2010) the 'digital versions'. Available in the iTunes store (also available in XBox live), I found the original series available in remastered format for $12.99 per season. Now that's more like it. On the 6th of August, 2010, I purchased all three seasons of the Original Series (remastered version) for $42.03 (with taxes). Now I've got the digital versions on my AppleTV, and I can add them to my iPhone and iPod Classic any time I want. Awesome - I've already started to watch the shows on my big screen TV. It's standard definition, but at least I've got my own copies of the remastered shows. The revamped, enhanced and corrected graphics, sound and cgi are great. I'm really loving the remastered shows.</rave>
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_The_Original_Series>

D&D updates:
We played our last D&D session on the 24th of July. Surprisingly, everyone was present. With all our busy schedules, it's sometimes difficult to get everyone together for our D&D meetings. Thankfully, this session saw everyone at the table. Here are some of the updates from that meeting on the 24th. With the conclusion of our 8 August meeting, the players have moved into an entirely new phase of the game. Gone are the S.C.R.E.W.O.F.F.S. - Existing now as a group of non-player characters. The player characters are now members of an entirely new group. The H.A.L.L.O.W.ed Knights. This new group of adventurers have struck out from Whillip. In search of glory, fame, and justice. They seek to right the wrongs of this land. To defend the weak, enslaved and oppressed. Striking out at evil and taint; this group of characters vow to make their mark upon the land. Let H.A.L.L.O.W.ed Knights be a name both feared by evil and revered by the good citizens of these realms.

Note from the Campaign Master
As of 20 February, 2010, one of the players (Mark) has taken over the duties of DM. Mark and I have been planning this change for some time. It's something I like to do, when possible. Unfortunately, the opportunity doesn't present itself too often. Once the campaign has been established, and the players familiar with "Rob's World", I like to encourage full participation by sharing the duties of DM. Mark has written the adventure that the characters are currently engaged in, and I will relinquish DM duties while Mark makes all the big decisions. With Mark behind the podium, I'll do my best to enjoy the mystery, and keep Solmar alive. So, Mark and I have switched places. He'll be running the show, and I'll be playing Solmar. What fun! I'm certainly enjoying this change of pace, the opportunity for adventure, and the mystery of Deepwood. - Robert

3rd Edition Campaign:
I updated the date of our next meeting - Our next meeting is 21 August, 2010 (We're skipping the meeting on the 7th - Mark will be out of town). I also updated the group photo and the caption text under the small group photo. This page (The "3eCampagin" page) is the first stop for information on the campaign that I'm currently running. Here you'll find information regarding our next meeting, some notes, and an index of web pages and documents that are important to our campaign. You can also check out the latest group photo.
<https://www.robsworld.org/3ecampaign.html>

The Adventurers journal:
The tale of our adventurers. A series of journal entries from various party members. This document contains details of their encounters. Victory, defeat, desire and glory. Here is the tale of The H.A.L.L.O.W.ed Knights, a group of adventurers who set forth from Whillip, seeking fame, fortune and the defeat of evil in these lands. The meeting on the 24th of July sees the party out on the road. On their way to the next adventure. It's going to be a long overland journey, and there will be many more days just like this one. This entry features another recap from Mutteran. At the conclusion of our last meeting, we stood witness to a struggle. A group of Gnomes were locked in combat with some sort of undead creature. Check out the latest journal entry for the conclusion to that encounter and other developments. Thanks to Lee for his continued input and support. Hopefully we can see some journal entries from other players in the future.
<https://www.robsworld.org/ajournal08.html#jul24 2010>

Where Now?:
With the party out on the road, on their way to their next adventure, they're bound to learn about some new places. As the party well knows, being out on the road can be an adventure all it's own. Over the last couple of sessions, the party has lost two party members (Jusarian and Gregor) and picked up a couple new ones (Pyrceval and Azura). When new characters are introduced, they often regale the party with tales of the new places and faces. In the case of Azura, the tales were tall indeed. Azura hails from a place so fantastic that it must be made up. A land of frozen ice, tundra, and drifts of snow so deep that the ground lies miles beneath ones feet. Surely a place where all water is solid must be the result of a fever dream, for no one could survive in such a harsh climate. Azura refers to this place as 'The Great Glacier'. With the telling of such tales, I've added to and updated some entries on the "Where Now?" page. "Where Now?" is a listing of various places the party has visited or researched.
<https://www.robsworld.org/wherenow.html>

Who's Who?:
The meeting on the 24th saw the introduction of another new character. With the demise of Jusarian, Micheal had no character to play. During our meeting on the 24th, Azura was introduced to the group. With the introduction of Micheal's new character, I had to make some necessary changes to the "Who's Who?" page. I added Azura to the 'Party Members/Player Character' listing. In addition to Micheal's new character, Todd has rolled up his own character, but he hasn't entered the game yet. When he does, I'll update the "Who's Who?" page to indicate the campaign's newest characters. With the introduction of Micheal's new character, I also added a couple of NPCs from Azura's background to the page. Ag'Chazore is a wise old man who helped raise and guide Azura after a tragedy befell his tribe/family. Dreanrop is a trainer for those who might aspire to become a Dragon Shaman. In addition to these character updates, I also added a new paragraph and made some changes to illustrate the difference between a 'Campaign Master' and a 'Dungeon Master'. With mark running the current adventure, I thought the distinction might be helpful to some. The "Who's Who?" page is a listing of characters, both player characters and non-player characters.
<https://www.robsworld.org/3ewhoswho.html>

Players in our campaign:
Over the last few months, there's been a lot of changes in our player line-up. Micheal and Todd have returned, Joe's left and Mark and I have swapped seats. Our group photo was way out of date! During our last gaming session (24 July, 2010), we managed to gather everyone around the table, and I took some new photos. With the photo updated, I had to make some changes to the character annotations beneath the group photo and the mouse-over tool-tips. A group of crazy characters constitute the players in our campaign. Many players have graced my gaming table over the years, some are old friends, some are new, but in the end - friends are what I call them. The players page contains a photo of our group and a short listing of who we are.
<https://www.robsworld.org/players.html>

Monsters encountered:
On the road - As the party takes to the open road, they find themselves to be the target for numerous hungry, belligerent, and simply curious creatures. During our most recent gaming sessions, the party learned about one new monster and they updated their knowledge about another. The new monster was an undead creature - but it wasn't evil (as Solmar kept trying to tell people!). A group of powerful Gnomes discovered just how deadly a revenant can be. I sure hope we never have one tracking our party. The party finally encounter a bulette and they found it less powerful than the hype made it seem. The monsters page is a listing of monsters that the party has encountered, read about, or heard of.
<https://www.robsworld.org/monsters.html>

These updates follow our meeting on the 10th of July (as well as changes brought about as a result of email discussions with various players). This session, and the previous ones (this year) represent the early days of a new adventure. The eighth adventure for our group. In search of glory, fame, and justice, the H.A.L.L.O.W.ed Knights seek to right the wrongs of this land. To defend the weak, enslaved and oppressed. Striking out at evil and taint, this group of characters vow to make their mark upon the land. Let H.A.L.L.O.W.ed Knights be a name feared by evil and revered by the good citizens of these realms. Departing on the 1st of Mavis, the party has decided to help the citizens of Deepwood in their quest to vanquish a Blue Dragon from their backyard. After picking up supplies, horses, and some information in Westgate, the party has taken to the open road. The road has proven dangerous and long. The party has fought many foes along the way, lost two of their own, and recruited a new companion to strengthen their numbers. After losing Gregor and Jusarian in battle, the party maintains it's conviction, strives to continue the journey, and vows to overcome all obstacles placed in their path. After a moment of mourning, the party is back on the road again. Sharpen your steel and hitch up your horses - Adventure calls and danger beckons!
<https://www.robsworld.org/3ecampaign.html>

Maddening Network issues with my Squeezebox Radio:

I purchased a Logitech Squeezebox radio a couple of months ago (ordered from Amazon on the 22nd of March). It arrived (via USPS) on the 1st of April, and I set it up immediately. What a fantastic appliance! With Wi-Fi running throughout the house, the Squeezebox stays connected everywhere in the house. It even works in the garage, on the front porch, and out back. I guess I put the TimeCapsule (My Wi-Fi router) in the right place. Thousands of channels available on demand, or streaming live. Highly programmable, and customizable. Free local stations from every corner of the internet. Access to music services such as Pandora, Slacker and Rhapsody. Connect and stream your music library to any room. This little gem even has a 7 day programmable alarm, line in for your iPod, ability to play XM/Sirius (with a paid subscription), media streaming software and a big enough speaker to fill the room. It works with Mac, Windows and various Unix varieties. Check it out. If you're looking to liberate your internet audio, this device will satiate your appetite.

<rant>O.k. So, I've been listening to my squeezebox for some time now, and I've encountered, as with any Wi-Fi appliance, problems... If I reboot my computer, the Squeezebox is completely unable to find my personal music library. On a few occasions (I don't reboot my computer very often. Only rebooting as necessary means once or twice a month) I rebooted my computer, only to discover that my Squeezebox could no longer connect to my music collection. Now for some particulars. I keep my music collection on a server separate from my computer. The music, podcasts, and many videos, are stored on a NAS (Network Attached Storage) server. The NAS is connected to my network via ethernet. Whenever I restart the computer, the Squeezebox is unable to reconnect to my music library. The server software can't locate my Squeezebox radio, and the Squeezebox radio can't connect to my music library. It doesn't have a problem getting re-connected to my network, and I can still use it to stream internet audio/content. Unfortunately, I want to listen to 'my content' - Podcasts and music. I want to stream this content through the Squeezebox Radio.

Press the power (power off) button on the Squeezebox front panel.
Unplug the squeezebox.
Shutdown the Squeezebox server running on my computer.
Perform a shutdown of the computer.
While the computer is shutdown, unplug the cable modem. Then unplug the router (I use a TimeCapsule).
After a sufficient wait (a minute or so for each device), plug the modem back in. Wait for it to boot up.
Restart the router by plugging it back in. Wait until it's completely booted (green light).
Power up the computer (Might take the opportunity to run diagnostic routines/rebuild permissions, etc in single user mode (I use 'AppleJack' for this)). Wait for it to reboot.
Log in to the computer. Wait for all applications to start.
Restart the Squeezebox server software.
Plug in the Squeezebox radio.
After the Squeezebox radio reconnects to the network (I haven't had a problem here), switch to my library, using the 'My Music' menu option.

Wow! Could anything be simpler? I'm not sure why, but to me - this seems a bit difficult. Maybe putting my music on a NAS (The Squeezebox server software isn't running on the NAS (it won't run on the NAS)) is part of the problem? but this is really ridiculous. It took me three days of searching through online forums (no one had my exact problem), troubleshooting network issues and dealing with firewalls in order to come up with this solution, and I still don't know whether this will work the next time I have a problem. It is possible that I may have a couple of unnecessary steps in the list above, but I don't have the time to conduct additional troubleshooting. I just hope that anyone with similar problems might find this article/posting useful. It took three days, and I thought I'd throw the squeezebox through a window, but I finally figured it out! Until next time...</rant>
<http://www.logitechsqueezebox.com/products/squeezebox-radio.html>

iPhone Troubles:
<rant>I'm a bit of an Apple Fan Boy, and that's no secret. I have to admit that I like Apple's products. They usually meet or exceed my expectations, and based on my experience, I'll turn to them for before I pick a competitor's product. Even if they cost more... With that said, this is the first time I've been upset with Apple's service. Blaming my iPhone problems on 'corrupt data' is a pretty sucky way of saying "we've got a problem with iOS 4". Starting back on the 24th of July, and possibly sooner, I started encountering a troubling number of problems with my iPhone 3GS (16GB model). While I'd recently upgraded to iOS 4.0 and more recently to iOS 4.0.1, it's hard to say which of these updates is causing the problem. As I said, I started to notice the problem on the 24th of July. I don't use my iPhone every day. Well, I carry it with me everywhere, but I don't put it through the ringer every day. So when I started encountering problems (on the 24th), tracing the problems back to a specific incident (iOS install) is a bit problematic.

On the 1st of August, I finally got around to tackling the problem. What problem? Well, here's list of symptoms:

Slow, sluggish performance. With a spinning/processor indicator (in the upper left corner of the display) appearing quite frequently.
Dropped calls (about five minutes into a call, I got disconnected (on at least two occasions)).
Unable to load web pages. Safari would simply stop responding. Switching between multiple webpages was extremely slow.
Safari crashes. I'd be trying to load a page and the phone would lock up. Eventually Safari would quit/crash and I'd get thrown back to the home screen.
Using the notes application crashes the phone. After taking notes for five minutes the application quite, throwing me back to the home screen. Unfortunately, the notes I had been typing were now gone!
Podcast playback ending. After four or five minutes into a podcast the podcast would simply stop. Pressing play again (as if it were paused) would resume the podcast, but it would stop again after three or four minutes. Sometimes I encountered 'skipping' playback just prior to the playback stopping. Sometimes the player would exit, throwing me back to the home screen.
At one point the entire phone rebooted, with the Apple logo appearing, and the phone spontaneously restarting.
I even noticed that my battery seemed to be draining much more quickly than normal.

I explained all these issues to the Apple Care technician - Call 1-800-Myiphone. Thankfully, I'd purchased a two year Apple Care warranty, so the phone call didn't cost me anything (could have been $29.99 for the call). I had already tried most of the things the technician recommended, and he eventually indicated that the new iOS update 'may be more sensitive to corrupt data on the phone'. He recommended that I restore the phone as if it were a new iPhone, as the problems persisted despite my attempts to restart and restore from backup. After I restored the phone, I was supposed to load my data back onto the phone - a little bit at a time, until I'm able to identify the 'corrupt data'.

After I got off the phone, I started the restoration process. As I write this, I've already had to restore the phone a second time. Once again starting over as if it were a new iPhone. This sucks! It's going to take me forever to figure out what the 'Corrupt Data' is. If there is any corrupt data. At the moment, I've got music, contacts, calendars, email accounts, bookmarks, and a ringtone installed. I'm starting to think that the problem may be 'over air' syncing with MobileMe... Unfortunately, it may take me another month to complete this troubleshooting process.

It really annoys me that I'm being asked to troubleshoot this problem for Apple. I'm not the only one with the problem. Thousands of people are having problems like mine. That iOS update really had some bad code in it, and Apple is acting as if every one of us has 'Corrupt Data' on our phones. Yeah, we've got 'Corrupt Data'. It's the iOS update that's corrupt. Apple really needs to troubleshoot this themselves, and push out another update. They need to fix their update.

Music Downloads for August:
Here's a list of some of the music I recently acquired. Where do I get all this stuff? I find/discover a lot of free (actually free) music by visiting several of the new music web sites (Pandora, 3hive.com, musicalfamilytree.org) and several other music blogs (Analog Giant, Brooklyn Vegan, Fluxblog, Gorilla vs. Bear, etc) out there, and listening to a few different music podcasts (iTunes new music tuesdays, discovery download, and indiefeed). Artists want you to hear their music - If you like it, you'll buy it. The major labels want you to pay for their product - letting you hear it for free is contrary to their business model. Well, guess what? I won't buy it unless I can listen to it first. The major labels are killing themselves with their restrictive distribution and dissemination policies. If you like new music, you can do a google search to find your favorite artists web site, a new music web site, or an archive of free music. Free music is available - Legally! Don't believe the major labels propaganda - Not all free music is illegal. You can legally download music for free. I download music from websites, newsgroups (when I already own rights to the music), and a couple of commercial sources (iTunes and eMusic). Here's a listing of some of the music I legally downloaded - and in most cases - paid for!

eMusic monthly downloads:
Every month I download 50+ tracks (50 download credits) from eMusic.com. This month (August of 2010) I managed to download 76 tracks (due to their 'download deals'). Unlike some music outlets, eMusic doesn't have any DRM and they don't insert unique track id's into the ID3 tags. Their terms of service are consumer friendly; eMusic allows you to burn as many CDs as you like and copy downloads to an unlimited number of your computers and portable MP3 players, including the iPod and Zune (really?). At less than $.40 a track (I'm paying $19.99 for 50 downloads/month), it's a really good value. iTunes and Amazon still charge more. eMusic offers more music for your money, and the variable bit rate recordings make for exceptionally high quality recordings.
* 21st Century Breakdown - Green Day: (18 songs) Green Day has been a favorite of mine since the mid 90's, and here's their latest album. eMusic recently added Green Day selection to their library - I'm in - I added a bunch of titles, and here's the first. In concept it's a rock opera. Each song builds on the previous, telling a story in three acts. So far I'm lovin' it.
* One Foot In The Grave (Deluxe Reissue) - Beck: (32 songs) I've been a Beck fan since 2006, when I added 'Guerro' to my collection. Here is a collection of early Beck recordings. Folk, anti-folk, eclectic and spare. Makes me wish I had more. Unfortunately, this is the only offering available on eMusic.
* Messenger - Joe Pug: (9+1 songs) I've been a fan of this artist since 'Nation of Heat', back in 2008 when I got a free copy of his first EP. Here is his first full length album. It's everything I thought it would be. Acoustic, folk, country, roots rock.
* Death Won't Send A Letter - Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons: (11 songs) I first discovered this artist back in 2008, since then I've been waiting for a full length album. Well, I finally got my wish. I'm glad I waited, this major label debut is awesome. Alt-country, blues, gospel, folk, and beautiful lyrics litter the tracks like tear sodden tissues of a widowers remorse.
* Out Of The Races And Onto The Tracks - The Rapture: (6 songs) I first discovered this band back in 2007. Unfortunately, they haven't released many recordings in that time. They still remind me of one of my favorite bands (Black Flag). The discordant crash of electronic instruments, and adrenalin driven drums. Excellent.

iTunes purchases:
Sometimes I purchase music from iTunes, and sometimes I take advantage of their free downloads (check it out on Tuesdays). iTunes is the King of the Hill when it comes to the bigger names, so sometimes I find that I have to pay the higher prices.
* 11:59 - Ryan Star: (10 songs) What started out as free download (Breathe - iTunes new music Tuesday download), turned into an album download. I so enjoyed the big arena ballad sound of Ryan Star that I was compelled to download the whole album. iTunes made it easier by offering the album at a discount of $7.99. Ryan Star was a contender in the 2006 season of Rock Star (the TV show). While he didn't win on television, he's a winner here with his first major studio release.
* Inner the Outline - Sasha Zand: (3 songs) 'Spoke to the Moment' blew me away (back in 2005), and I've been patiently waiting for another release by this artist. With only three songs in this release, I guess I'll have to wait a while longer.
* Ray - Frazier Chorus: (10 songs) A favorite from back in the late 80s. Unfortunately, eMusic doesn't carry any Frazier Chorus, so I have to turn to iTunes to satiate my 80's cravings. Reminiscent of OMD, Ultravox, Cocteau Twins, and other bands from the end of the 80s. Here's one of the bands best albums. Once again, I can't find this band on eMusic. Lacking guitarist, drummer or bassist, who would've thought they could do without? Excellent orchestral scores.
* Complete Greatest Hits - The Cars: (15 songs) I originally downloaded five songs from this compilation back in 2009. Now I'm back to get the rest. iTunes made it easy using their 'Complete My Album' feature. For only $5.54 I was able to download the remaining 15 songs. I love these songs. They bring back many excellent memories (of the '80s), and I'm glad I've got these gems tucked away on my iPod. Let the Good Times Roll!

These are some of the items I added to my music collection during the last month. Since revamping my music collection back in September of 2005, I've been slowly adding, revising and updating the collection. If you have a comment, question or correction regarding my music collection, please don't hesitate to send me an email. Please keep in mind that my collection isn't for sale, and I'm not interested in giving you any copyrighted materials. I'd rather not go to jail for music piracy. :-)
<https://www.robsworld.org/music.html>
<http://www.emusic.com/>