I recently upgraded my main Win2k box to WinXP. When XP first arrived I figured I would stay with Win2k until Longhorn shipped. After all, Win2k and WinXP share essentially the same NT 5 engine, and Win2k is fairly stable and reliable and does not lack in support from vendors. Yet, I was getting bored with Win2k and was learning about some of the extras that WinXP includes, like ClearType. Anyone who has used a Mac knows about Apple’s font-smoothing features. Apple initiated this in OS 8.5 back in 1998, and vastly improved it with OS X. Microsoft also first touted ClearType in 1998, but did not introduce it until 2000 with the Microsoft Reader application. Mainstream introduction was with WinXP.

What is it? Essentially it is anti-aliasing for your screen — not just any screen — ClearType works best on LCD monitors and thus also laptop screens. A technical overview can be found here. The short of it? If you are running XP and have and LCD monitor or a laptop, visit the first link in this entry and turn it on. The effect is dramatic and should reduce eyestrain.

It would seem that Comcast will start to offer HDTV to about half their Bay Area customers within the next week. I guess my calls weren’t in vain. They plan to offer local ABC, NBC, PBS, HBO and Showtime. They are in negotiations with the local CBS affiliate, and I would expect that soon.

They will be charging an addtional $5/month for HDTV service which includes the rental of a new Motorola DCT5100 (336KB PDF) HD-capable digital cable box. Lot’s of nifty extras like usb, ethernet, firewire, smart card are all disabled, but it does come with a DVI connector for your TV as well as Optical SPDIF for better sound.

Looks like it may be time to go HDTV shopping …

B2 is now WordPress and development on this blog software continues. The upgrade/transition was painless and the Smarty Template Engine is on the way. Huzzah!

Expecting Time (5 May 2003) to accurately report on the issues of music sharing/file swapping/digital piracy is probably unrealistic. After all, Warner Bros. is a major music label as well as movie studio, and these reporters value their paycheck as much as the next person. But here’s my take on the issue of music on the Internet, broadcast radio and the Digital Lifestyle.

First let me say that I’ve never used Napster, Kazaa, LimeWire, or other P2P software. It wasn’t really from a lack of interest, more from a lack of trust that more than just my music would become available on the Internet. I have though, on occassion, made MP3s of friend’s CDs, something that was at one point considered fair use. But MP3 mania really didn’t hit until I was gifted an iPod last year. I love everything about the iPod, so much that I wrote an article last April detailing how to use the pre-windows-mac-only iPod with Windows. I have since ripped most of my CD collection and I am so tempted to buy a TiVo to make use of it’s new media server features.

As I see it, the file sharing problem is part of a larger problem of homogenization. People are sick and tired of most broadcast media and have been presented with a chance to download for free music they may not normally buy. And personally I don’t care if the labels are getting screwed because they’ve been screwing the consumer since the introduction of LPs. And the label-endorsed online efforts, Pressplay, Rhapsody, Music.net continue the tradition. Monthly fees? Get real. Apple has the right idea at $.99/song and 2M purchased songs in its first two weeks is a ringing endorsement. As for the P2P systems, there does need to a system to compensate artists and performers directly. Kazaa and others could start putting a percentage of advertising funds into an artist fund of some type. Something Napster should have done from the start and may have garnered them better press.

From MP3s to Radio

I am pretty integrated into the Digital Lifestyle and that lifestyle is centered around the Internet. With my broadband connection it is possible to get what I want, when I want it. What media companies (and this includes cable monopolies, record labels and the movie industry) need to realize is this: what I want, when I want it IS the new reality. The Time article mentions monies the labels get from chain stores like Wherehouse and others. Kiss it goodbye. I predict there will be about 75% less record/music stores in 10 years. Music distribution will move online, so to all the middlemen in this industry, your days are numbered. Yet the labels will still be there, because there is another problem the Internet has not solved – broadcast media consolidation.

Odds are companies like Clear Channel own at least 5 FM/AM stations in your area. If you’ve wondered why you may have lost some of your favorite stations to Top 10 (its not even Top 40 anymore) since 1995, its because of FCC changes allowing more consolidation in the broadcast media arena. And if you think commercial broadcast media is too vanilla now, there are new changes afoot to add even more artificial vanilla flavoring. Bill Moyers did a recent interview that sums it up nicely, as did William Safire, not exactly a raging liberal. Personally, I find myself listening to NPR more and more. Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, Clear Channel has bought what were two decent FM stations. When I listen to them now I hear exactly the same playlist I heard six months ago.

Naturally, the pro-consolidation crowd is preaching that the market will deliver a better product. And this means that fewer owners will be able to meet the broad needs of all communities. Yet, this same crowd, when it comes to the Federal Government, believes that as much power as possible should be in the hands of local government. I don’t knowwhy they can’t see that in the matter of media ownership, more local control (many, many owners) is a much better way to insure that the needs of varieted and disparate communities are being served.

Internet radio is not the answer either. While there are many Internet radio stations, they are in essence national stations. They are not tailored to the local community. While I can certainly find a better mix of music on Internet radio than I will on my local Clear Channel station, I won’t be hearing about the next local pumpkin festival, beer festival, or other civic event that was a part of local radio when I was growing up.

The FCC votes on media consolidation in June. If you want a voice then contact your Congressman.

The family has been using Sprint PCS for cellphone service for nearly three years now. Their service area is pretty good, though since the move we don’t get service at our house (for that matter neither will any other service). My wife’s phone, a Samsung 3500, is about two years old now and was causing her no end of troubles. We found out that due to wear and tear the hinge element in these phones goes bad and causes the ear piece speaker to cut-out intermittently. Our other complaint is that with all the current offers we should be able to get more minutes for the same or less money than we are currently paying.

So my wife goes to Sprint to find out what can be done. On her first visit she is offered the $100 service credit with the purchase of a new phone as well as another 100 minutes per month added to our plan for no extra fee. On the second visit, after going to CostCo and seeing that the $100 is a mail-in rebate not a service credit, we confirm that it is a rebate and, by the way, did we mention that is for new customers only? Also, if you want those extra 100 minutes, it will cost you another $20/mo to share the minutes between your phones (up from $10/mo ea. on two phones). We leave.

Sensing an imminent break-up with Sprint we visit AT&T Wireless. The salesperson there was very cool, offering us close to $400 off three new phones, and a good price on a service plan. Oh, and the phones have Bluetooth, which means adding phone numbers and calendar items will be much easier. Schweet! The only thing holding me back was the fact that we would have to get all new phone numbers and then have to get in touch with everyone to update their records. A royal PITA.

Why do we need to get new phone numbers? Because there is no number portability as yet for cell phones. So when you switch companies, you need to get all new business cards, letterhead, etc., as well as get in touch with everyone else. Barring a pending court appeal in favor of the phone companies this summer, number portability will happen in November 2003. The FCC has suspended this implementation three times so far. Why? The cell phone companies don’t want it to happen. In an industry that is usually screaming for the government to get out of its business, in this case a Verizon VP is quoted remarking “wireless is competitive enough.”

Armed with an otherwise good offer we went back to Sprint one last time. The sales rep this time could offer us nothing except for $30 off a new phone. I dialed *2 to cancel service.

The initial rep could do nothing to help us and we were transferred to a cancellation “specialist.” After explaining the situation, she immediately offered a $240 credit to use towards a new phone, activation fees, whatever. And there were no additional service contracts attached. That was enough to keep us until November. Why it had to come to that I have no idea.

The wife now sports a sleek Samsung A460 phone and she is once again content, and thus so am I, until November …

The first nice Saturday in months (literally), so I decided it was time to get back on the bike. After the Seattle to Portland ride last July and subsequent smaller rides last summer, the winter and early spring proved too cold and too wet for my taste. But today the sun came out and off I went.

Equipped with two water bottles of Extran-enhanced water, and a bicycle map of Marin, I navigated the back roads from Fairfax to Sausalito. Aside from the hill between Corte Madera and Mill Valley, the ride was great. And after a few more rides that hill won’t be a problem either.

30 miles roundtrip. Installed my new Specialized wireless speedometer before the ride and it worked splendidly. Arriving home to beer and margaritas didn’t suck either. 🙂

My post yesterday reminded me of another conversation I had with Comcast soon after they acquired my business through their acquisition of AT&T. Their first action was to raise rates about $4.00 for my plan, Digital Silver. Rate increases have not been limited to my service area. Comcast has been raising rates all over the country, citing increasing programming costs by networks such as ESPN.

I don’t believe any of it. Comcast’s earnings were higher than ever last year, in no small part by charging me outrageous prices for channel packages that consist of at least 50% of channels I don’t want. I don’t need 5 home-shopping channels (I don’t need any), except for World Cup years I don’t need any Spanish-language channels, etc. What I do want is local channels, certain Discovery channels, BBC, and HBO. I don’t care about having 100 channels, especially when it takes 6 seconds to change the channel. So here is my proposal.

First, Comcast and Cox and other cable systems, you need to call ESPN’s bluff not to run on your systems at all if they aren’t included with ‘basic cable’ packages. Where else are they going to go? It’s not like there is any cable competition, you’ve already seen to that. If ESPN bails, you may lose some customers to satellite, but ESPN’s losses will be greater and they will be back within a year on their hands and knees begging to be back on your respective cable systems. Second, let me, the customer, choose exactly the channels I want. I know the technology exists for this. Forget about your packages and pre-selected channel groupings. Let me choose exactly which channels I want for $1 each per month. This includes HBO, Showtime, whatever. Obviously not PPV. My channel choices will be about 35 (I’ve already counted) and I will be a happy customer.

And while I’m at it, get rid of the ads on the TV Guide channel description overlay. I am paying you, remember?

Oh yeah, get off your butts and roll-out HDTV in all markets.

I’ve been asked which Samsung HDTVs are only $800. The TXM-3096WHF is listed at BestBuy for $749 after $100 Gift Card rebate. They also have newer models for $899 (after $100 Gift Card rebates).

I want a new TV. Most of my games for my Gamecube support progressive scan output. The Gamecube itself has an option of composite HD output. So being a guy that likes hi-tech toys, I wanted to see these games in all their glory. Samsung has a HD monitor/television for about $800. 30″ widescreen or 32″ 4:3 models, I think I could be happy with either one. HDTV would be sweet, and my wife could watch her favorite show, CSI, in all its HD glory. Yet I was hesistant. Knowing a little about the emergent state of HDTV broadcasting, I set out to learn more.

A friend of mine has HDTV, and he had to buy a new version of the old-fashioned rabbit ears to pull in the HD signal over the air (OTA). As I live in a valley (where I can’t even get cell-phone service) I knew that OTA reception would be spotty. I needed something a bit more reliable. My first call was to my cable company, Comcast. Constantly spouting on about their ‘digital cable’ service, I decided to test their digital mettle.

First call – “We don’t offer HDTV in the San Francisco Bay Area. Maybe in two years. The infrastructure here doesn’t allow us to broadcast HDTV signals.”

Second call – “We should have HDTV by the end of the year.”

I know Comcast offers HDTV in many markets on the east coast including Boston and I have a hard time believing that San Francisco’s infrastructure is any worse than Boston’s. Next I called DirecTV and Dish (satellite).

DirecTV – “Yes we offer HD premium channels (HBO, Showtime, etc.), we don’t broadcast local channels.”

Dish – “You can receive analog local channels for $5 more per month. We can offer you Los Angeles HD for the major networks.”

Dish is interesting, but it means getting a Dish installed, new wiring from the roof, and other changes I’m not quite prepared to make.

Yes, HDTV will be nice, but for now I’ll be content with my old Mitsubishi TV.

Finally some time to set this up. Using the b2 system and a modified Manila layout designed by Bryan Bell. No you can’t login and have your own blog. You can read and comment.

The theme of this space? Nothing in particular. My musings will roam the range of the current landscape. So check back often and see how its going.