Geeqs.Net // Keith's Blog

Hannah Montanah's Gummy Guitars...WTF

2008-08-30T05:46:00Z

And you thought gummy lighthouses were bad....(read more)

When the zombies come, they come for thee, David Dexter

2008-08-30T04:14:00Z

David Dexter pulls from under his lab desk a small lidded bucket, the type that DIY stores use to sell bumper packs of filler....(read more)

Saturday Tech Bits

2008-08-30T04:14:00Z

20 Insanely Modified Computers. Thanks Ant....(read more)

etc.

2008-08-30T04:14:00Z

Thanks Mike Martinez. The 13 Videogames that Desperately Need to be Remade (16-bit and Under). Thanks Digg? 6 Very Unconventional MMO Virtual Hotels? Chinese Government: 4 Million Addicted To 'Unhealt......(read more)

Take Your Web Apps Offline

2008-08-30T02:43:00Z

Ever want to run Google Docs or Zoho from your desktop? Unfortunately for travelers, web apps by nature are shackled to its internet connections. Now, you can cut the ethernet cable and free web apps from the web using Fluid and Google Gears....(read more)

Nintendo Shares Say Wii

2008-08-30T02:43:00Z

Stock in console maker jumps 10 percent on company's boost in sales forecasts....(read more)

Intel Grabs OpenedHand

2008-08-30T02:43:00Z

Chip giant agrees to acquire the open-source software developer for use in its Atom line of processors....(read more)

German Customs raids over 50 booths at IFA looking for patent infringements

2008-08-30T01:12:00Z

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets We've got our crack team of Engadget ninjas at IFA working to figure out exactly what's going on, but early word is that over 220 German Customs agents have raided the show looking for patent infringements. It's not clear how many booths have had visits from The Man, but it's somewhere over 50 -- we've been hearing a number in the 70s -- and spokespeople for Customs says inspections will continue until tonight. Sounds like a repeat of what's happened...(read more)

New video game depicts Venezuela mercenary attack (Reuters)

2008-08-30T01:12:00Z

Reuters - A video game depicting mercenaries storming Venezuela, which has been criticized in the oil-rich South American country as a blueprint for an invasion, will be released by a U.S. company this weekend....(read more)

Saints Row 2 Screens

2008-08-29T23:42:00Z

8 new shots posted....(read more)

Updated Blog site to CommunityServer 2008

2008-08-18T05:32:00Z

I've just updated the site to use the latest version of CommunityServer, 2008. The main changes visitors to the site will see is that my previous theme I was using is no longer up. I've defaulted the theme for the site until I can spend a little time customizing the look and feel.

The back-end management of the site looks cleaner than 2007 and I look forward to digging into the options later.

Technorati Tags: CommunityServer,Blog,Upgrade

Adventures in HD

2008-05-26T04:51:33Z

Now that I have a HDTV (LC-46D82U) and HD programming via Shaw, I've noticed that the quality of the HD broadcast varies from channel to channel and in some cases program to program.

For example, not all HD programs are created equally. The CTV National News for example is very clear and detailed, but most ABC, CBS and Fox programming in HD shows evidence of image artifacts due to compression. I'm not talking about a little noise either... it's enough noise to be distracting.

Technorati Tags: LCD,HD,Blueray,compression

As I understand it the reason for this is that the cable providers (Shaw, Rogers, Bell, etc...) have a fixed amount of bandwidth available to them for sending signals to their subscribers. To maximize their profitability they allocate less bandwidth to each channel in order to provide more channels to subscribers and they must then apply more compression to the signal and this can lead to compression artifacts as seen above.

This is the biggest challenge I see the adoption of HD having in the marketplace. The improved visual quality of programming is just not that noticeable for a significant portion of HD programming currently available.

For example, I'll be able to flip back and forth between a HD version of a program and a standard definition (SD) version of a program on my TV and in some cases the only difference I'll notice is the addition of black bars as a result of the change from wide screen to 4:3 screen. That doesn't exactly make a great selling feature.

For this reason, I've been looking at options for providing my TV with a better quality video source, such as an HD DVD player (BlueRay) or playing HD video files from my PC. More on that on my next post...

Randy Pausch Lecture: Time Management

2008-03-03T08:30:00Z

This is from the same CMU professor as the previous post. It is a lecture on "time management".

Randy Pausch Lecture: Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

2008-03-03T07:28:00Z

Randy Pausch Lecture: Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

The ADD version from Oprah (11 min):

The full session presented at Carnegie Mellon (76 min): 41

A Comparison of 3 Personal Media Players

2007-12-17T13:05:00Z

You might be asking what a Personal Media Player is. It's basically an MP3 player, but also includes capabilities for playing back video files. The market for this type of device exploded last year when Apple came out with new versions of their iPod and Nano players. At the time there were other vendors supplying the market with video players, but Apple brought it to the mainstream.

I've had experience with 2 models of recent portable media players and will be getting a 3rd. The current information about the Archos 605 is based on publications. But once I have the 605 in hand, I'll update my review to include my personal observations.

Device	Creative Zen Vision W (30GB) *	Apple iPod Touch (16GB)	Archos 605 WiFi (30GB)
Price (CDN)	$409.72	$449.99	$329.99
Capacity (Type)	30GB (HD)	16GB (Flash)	30GB (HD)
Screen Size (resolution)	4.3" (480x272)	3.5" (480x320)	4.3" (800x480)
Video Formats	DivX, WMV9, XVid, Mpeg1, Mpeg2, Mpeg4	MOV, MP4, M4V, MKV	Mpeg4, DivX, XVid, WMV9 (optional Mpeg2, H.264)
Audio Formats	MP3, WMA	MP3, AAC	MP3, WMA, WAV (Optional AAC, AC3)
Battery Hours (Vid/Aud)	4.5 / 13	5 / 22	5.5 / 17
Sync Software	Zen Vision Media Explorer, Windows Media Player	Apple iTunes 7.4	Windows Explorer (as a USB HD), Windows Media Player
Additional Features	FM Tuner, Video out, built-in speaker, microphone recorder, Connects via standard mini USB cable	WiFi Web browsing, YouTube video, Multi-Touch interface	PDF Viewer, WiFi Web Browser, Mass Storage Class (USB drive)

* Note: At the time of this writing, the 30GB Creative Zen Vision W is being phased out. The 60GB model is still on sale at major retailers.

Creative Zen Vision W (30GB)

Pros:

A good sized, clear, and bright screen. At arms length, anything smaller would be too small.
Really good video format support. You will rarely have to convert video into a compatible format before playing on the device.
Uses a standard mini-USB cable. No proprietary charging/transfer cable needed!
Built in FM radio tuner
Built in speaker for when you want to show someone something without having to swap headphones

Cons:

Lowest resolution display of the 3, but the display is clear and bright enough that you probably wont notice.
Lowest battery life of the 3, but you can still watch 2 or 3 full length movies before you need a recharge.
To get cover art for your MP3 files to show up on the device, you need to use Windows Media player to sync the files.
Using either the Windows Media Player or the Zen Vision Media Explorer are both a little painful. Why can't we just drag our files to the device?
No support for H.264 video codec playback.

Apple iPod Touch (16GB)

Pros:

User interface is pretty cool. Cover flow is a nifty way to browse albums. UI feedback is quick and fluid. It feels really professionally put together and a solid product.
A real full-blown web browser built in (Safari) which is quite good enough to browse most web sites.
Very clear and bright display.
Best audio battery life of the 3 units tested.
WiFi connectivity to YouTube - you have the entire YouTube library of video content available on your iPod!
Linked to the iTunes music store - the de-facto standard for purchasable on-line video for movies and TV. Easy to purchase new content.
WiFi connectivity to iTunes music store.

Cons:

Requires iTunes installed and you need an iTunes account just to put files on or remove files from the device. Why should I have to first import files into iTunes library, and then sync iTunes to the Touch?
Highest price of all 3 units reviewed.
Not only is it the highest price, but it's the most limited space available. Around +1/3rd the price of the 30GB Archos, but has only slightly more than 1/2 the space?
The file formats it supports feel somewhat obscure to me. The vast majority of video files I see on the web for download are not of any of these formats.
Supports H.264, but only a simple profile. This means that a lot of the H.264 content you find on the web wont play on it!
Lack of included conversion tools to convert your video files into formats supported by the device. You'll have to resort to a 3rd party tool.
Had quite a few problems with downloaded podcast files being corrupt when downloading through iTunes. No problems downloading the same files through web browser and playing them.
Proprietary cable - how do you feel about having to carry around a special cable if you want to sync on another machine (home & work?) With all of the touching going on, you'll smear that screen up pretty quickly, no matter how clean your hands are.

Archos 605 WiFi (30GB)

Pros:

Lowest price unit of the 3 listed
Highest resolution display of the 3 listed on a good sized screen.
Highest video playback battery life of the 3 listed
Unit is seen by your PC as a simple external hard drive. Getting media onto the device is as simple as drag-and-drop within Windows explorer!
Device can be used as a portable 30GB hard drive
Good video format support with some additional formats available for a fee. This helps reduce the unit price. People who need those options can still get them if they need them.
Touch screen makes for quicker navigation.
Can be used with an optional docking station to directly record video onto the device, and has an Electronic Program Guide to schedule recordings. (I wonder how it manages to change channels though, does the device have a TV tuner built in?)
Built in speaker for when you want to show someone something without having to swap headphones

Cons:

Requires a proprietary USB cable. WHY do this? You make it show up as a standard USB hard drive, but you require a specialized, expensive, USB cable??
Buttons feel like they're in the way and a little fragile. The edges of the buttons feel like they could get caught on clothing and get pulled off.
User interface on the unit feels a little clunky.

Technorati Tags: Creative Zen Vision W,Apple iPod Touch,Archos 605,Personal Media Players,MP3 Players,Video Formats,Review,PMP

Geeqs.Net // Keith's Blog

Hannah Montanah's Gummy Guitars...WTF

When the zombies come, they come for thee, David Dexter

Saturday Tech Bits

etc.

Take Your Web Apps Offline

Nintendo Shares Say Wii

Intel Grabs OpenedHand

German Customs raids over 50 booths at IFA looking for patent infringements

New video game depicts Venezuela mercenary attack (Reuters)

Saints Row 2 Screens

Updated Blog site to CommunityServer 2008

Adventures in HD

Randy Pausch Lecture: Time Management

Randy Pausch Lecture: Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

A Comparison of 3 Personal Media Players

Device

Price (CDN)

Capacity (Type)

Screen Size (resolution)

Video Formats

Audio Formats

Battery Hours (Vid/Aud)

Sync Software

Additional Features

Creative Zen Vision W (30GB)

Pros:

Cons:

Apple iPod Touch (16GB)

Pros:

Cons:

Archos 605 WiFi (30GB)

Pros:

Cons: