berryjooks

A Christmas Tail

2009-12-24T09:04:00.007-05:00

It was late on a bitterly cold December night. One of those windy 12 degree New England evenings, the kind we come to know and love by midwinter, but aren’t really ready for when they arrive early. My wife and I had braved the cold to try and wrap up our Christmas shopping. We were both cold and tired on the ride home, but happy none the less, as it seemed we had finished off our pre Christmas checklist and could now coast into the holidays.

I pulled into our driveway, shut the car off, and as I looked down at the ignition to remove the key, I heard and felt a thump, accompanied by both a surprised yelp from my wife, and a plaintive yowl from outside the car. I immediately looked up and saw a pair of great big luminous yellow eyes staring back at me.

We both just sat there for a minute, stunned. There was an animal standing on the hood of the car and staring in the windshield at us. What the heck was it, and why was it so bold? It looked like a raccoon at first, but as our eyes adjusted, we realized it was a good sized cat. A good sized cat that appeared to have just fallen out of the sky…

It cried again and put its paw up on the windshield. It obviously wanted our attention.

I carefully got out of the car, and moved up to the hood. Our new friend responded by coming right over to me and trying to get inside my coat. I usually don’t snuggle on a first date, but this cat was insistent. My wife came around to join me, and the cat moved back and forth between us, prodding us with its head and meowing loudly.

The cat was impressive looking. It was a longhaired brown tabby with a large ruff, similar to our Maine Coon, but under that beautiful coat I could feel that it had no meat on its bones, and the poor thing felt cold. It didn’t take us long to figure out what was needed. My wife stayed with the cat while I went in and got a little kibble and a bowl of water, which the cat dove into with gusto. When it was finished eating, it sat by our door and watched us as we lugged in our packages and started closing up for the night.

Now it was decision time. The cat was obviously sick and emaciated, and it was hella-cold out. The right thing to do was to bring it in, but you have to be careful with sickly strays when you have other pets. We decided to set up a bed and a box in the basement, and call around to all the local Vets and Animal Control in the morning. Hey, maybe we could make someone’s Christmas by reuniting them with their lost pet.

I went back outside and the cat was still there, sitting right by the front door. It came up and rubbed against me, then followed me around to the back of the house. When I opened the back door that leads into our basement, the cat followed me right in with no hesitation. At first it preferred my lap and the inside of my coat to its new bed, so I sat with it tucked against me as my wife filled the box and the bowls. Gradually it ventured to the food and litter box, then curled up on the warm blankets and conked out.

The next morning we took some digital pictures and emailed them to all the Vets offices in a 20 mile radius. We also printed up flyers which we put on every bulletin board and light pole we could find. My wife was tireless in the effort. For the cat’s sake, as well as in the interest of our own pet’s health; we brought it in to our Vet for a complete workup. They were great. Even though they were busy and the holidays were rapidly approaching, they squeezed us in and checked her out. Yes, it was a girl, and after they shaved off some of her matted undercoat, they found that she had been spayed. Blood tests showed that she had been living off of her fat reserves and had a pretty bad urinary tract infection. The Vet felt that between the infection and the malnutrition, she had probably been on her last legs when she gave herself up to us. A full course of antibiotics and lots of TLC were prescribed.

On the plus side, she had tested negative for feLV and FIV, and didn’t appear to have any fleas or ticks, so we’d be able to integrate her into the household a little more without fear. She also appeared to be about a year old, and in otherwise good condition. A well cared for housecat that had fallen on tough times.

Checking out, I was stumped when they asked for a name to go on the cat’s file. When I said “Hopefully, we won’t be keeping her for long”, they just laughed. They know us all to well. My wife suggested that we call her Noelle, seeing as it was Christmas and all, and I quickly agreed. We took her home and set her back up in her basement nest, but this time we left the door open so that she could come up if she liked. The next few days she stayed put in the basement, mostly sleeping. She would get up for her food, and readily allowed me to pill her twice a day, but that was it. This was one sick and exhausted cat.

Our big old Maine Coon, Ted, came down to investigate once or twice during those first few days, but he kept his distance, and he didn’t appear all too happy about this new development. He kept going to the basement stairs and looking back at us, as if to say “Don’t you guys realize that there’s a stranger down there?” No sir, he didn’t like it one bit.

As she started to feel better, Noelle began to investigate her new surroundings. Her first move was to the laundry room, where we’d find her either sleeping on top of the dryer, or nestled in a basket of clothes. When one of our other cats would come down, she’d hop up into the rafters above the washer and dryer. I think her little adventure in the wild had heightened her survival instincts, and she wasn’t taking any chances. It was priceless to watch, they’d tip toe around, checking her bed out, even going into the laundry room, and all the while she was watching them silently from her lofty perch. Ted reminded me of John Belushi in the scene from Animal House, where he’s sneaking across the campus at night. All exaggerated moves that wouldn’t fool a blind man.

Right after Christmas, she started venturing upstairs, and that’s when the real fun began. We like to refer to those times as the “Stair Wars” period. One of the established “guests” always seemed to be stationed by the stairs, like little cat sentries. Not a problem for Miss Noelle, she’s one tough chick who knows how to get what she wants. Her ultimate weapon is a rising howl that seems to strike fear in the hearts of the others. She’d creep slowly up until she was face to face with one of them, and then just stare them down for a while. The minute they’d flinch, she’d let out that blood curdling howl and bolt right for them. They would always panic and turn tail, not even Teddy the Lion Hearted could withstand her fury.

It didn’t take her long to stake out her territory, and of all places it was under the Christmas tree. She loves sleeping on the tree skirt, especially when the tree lights are on, and she has no end of fun climbing up into the lower branches and reaching through to bat at the ornaments. Very fitting behavior for a Christmas cat, I’d say.

Meanwhile, my wife and I would freeze every time the phone rang that holiday season. We’d passed the point of no return, so to speak. As well intentioned as we were, we were really starting to get attached to Noelle. The thought of giving her up was a real downer.

It turned out that we were worrying for no reason. As we approach another Christmas, Noelle, the cat that magically dropped out of the sky and into our lives, is still with us. No one ever claimed her, much to our relief, and we actually have a theory about where she may have come from. About two or three weeks before we found her, there was an estate sale around the corner from us. Someone had passed and the relatives were in from out of town to settle things up. At one point there were people lined up down the street for a chance to get in, everyone loves a bargain. We think she may have been part of the household and gotten out during all the hubbub, only to be forgotten. We’ll never know for sure, we’re just glad she found us.

Of course, Noelle has taken up residence under the tree again this Christmas. She loves to lay there amongst all the presents and stare at the lights. I think it’s a comforting thing for her, the symbol of a new warm and loving home. There’s still a little tension between her and Ted, but things have mellowed a bit. We lost our two oldest cats this year. Zoë was 16, and little Phoebe was 15. Phoebe left us just a few weeks ago, and the dynamic in the house has changed dramatically since then. Little Peep was Ted’s running mate. She was the Yin to his Yang, and they were certainly an odd couple; Ted, the big 18 lb Coon, and Phoebe, the little 5 lb Peep. He’s been kind of lost without her, and it’s awful hard for him to guard against “Noelle encroachment” all by himself. I think he’s just resigned himself to being pestered. Get used to it Ted, women can be very bossy.

So, that’s my little Christmas tail, and now it’s time for me to wrap this up and get wrapping. I leave you with this; if fate puts you in a position to help someone out this holiday season, whether it’s a fellow human or a stray animal, take a chance. You won’t regret it.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

Not So Deep Thoughts…

2008-09-03T22:07:00.012-04:00

Some stuff I’ve been ruminating on over the long hot summer:

I’m really excited about WEEI’s new website makeover. All the writers I don’t like on a website I don’t go to. Sweet! Had I known what they were up to, I would have donated money to go towards signing bonuses. Maybe they could have stolen Maz away from BDC…

If there was no HGTV, would my wife still want to paint anything that doesn’t move?

I’ve mowed my own lawn forever and done less damage the entire time than my new (soon to be ex) landscaper has done in a month.

Never agree to be executor of anyone’s estate!

You know you’re in for trouble when a coworker says “Everyone in my family has the stomach bug except for me”, and the next day they’re out.

Why do so few people backup their files? When your PC dies, and it will, all those digital pictures you’ve been taking, and all that music you’ve been downloading, will be gone forever, and no amount of whining or teeth gnashing will change that. Only you can prevent stupidity.

For me, the single greatest invention of the 21st century is the portable mp3 player. Having my entire music collection in my pocket is an amazing thing, and one of the most Jetson-esque things that the world of technology has brought us thus far.

You can call me a dyed in the wool homer (cause I am), but I still think the Pats will have another great season, despite their dismal play in the preseason. They need Brady on the field to coalesce as a team, and hopefully that will be happening soon. I’m beginning to believe the broken bone in the foot rumblings, although if I were dating Gisele, I’d be hard to find also. (Sorry Hon, but have you seen the happy couple’s photos on BDC?)

The Sox… Ah, the Sox. What can you say? Another soap opera season that somehow, against all odds, has begun to pick up steam again. Man O’ Manny, could they have asked for any better outcome to a really tough situation? I don’t think so. The front office has once again turned lemons into lemonade to slake the thirst of Red Sox Nation. Good job!

And speaking of Red Sox Nation… Don't be buying yourself one of those stupid membership cards. I got an email the other day warning me that “time was short to join Red Sox Nation during the 2008 season”. Being a true member is a state of mind, and has nothing to do with paying $14.95 for a colorful piece of plastic.

That is all.

Thoughts While Mindlessly Moving Snow

2009-01-18T22:51:00.012-05:00

I’m sure that there are some very good employees at Circuit City, and I hate to see anyone lose their job, but I think one of the main reasons that they’re going out of business is customer service. Every time I go in there and need help, I can’t get anyone to even acknowledge my existence, and I am not shy. There always seems to be plenty of sales associates, it’s just that they’re gathered in little clumps, deep in important conversations, working overtime at not making eye contact. I’ve never understood this, especially when there’s always a Best Buy within a mile that sells the same stuff for the same price.

Winter sucks.

People should stop demanding to know what’s wrong with Steve Jobs and let the man have some peace. I know he’s a huge part of the whole Apple mystique, and everyone is afraid that without him the company may stumble and fall, but come on people, get over it. He’s a large part of a small subset of people who are responsible for bringing us all into the digital age, changing the way we do business and how we interact with each other. He’s certainly earned my respect, and hopefully yours. I say if you’re concerned about his health, you should send him a get well card, or even just some good thoughts or a few prayers.

I LOVE my Toro Power Throw!

How about that, the craptastic Cardinals are headed to the Super Bowl. It kills me that a 9 and 7 team is off to the big dance, especially since they rolled over against our Pats just weeks ago, but I have to admit that I’m happy for Kurt Warner. Hopefully his wife has gotten over her feathered boa stage. I don’t think I could take seeing that again.

My back hurts.

Although I often feel overworked and underpaid, I’m really glad I have a job, and I really like what I do. A lot of people I talk to lately seem to feel the same way, and I think this bodes well for the future. When things are good, people move around from job to job, always looking for that next big pay increase. For quite a while now, loyalty and continuity have been kind of frowned upon. In the high tech world it’s almost a badge of honor to have a huge list of past employers, but to me, there’s no reward in that. If you’re changing jobs every few years, you’re definitely not focused on the long range plans of your company, and without people pushing and shoving their organizations into the future, nothing much happens, and consequently both business and the economy suffers.

My gloves are soaked through. I probably should stop and change them.

Tomorrow it will be one year since my Dad passed away, and the day after that, the country’s first black president will be sworn in. I really wish he was here to see it. He lived through a lot of changes in his 84 years; The Great Depression, World War II, television, space exploration, computers and cell phones, but with all the change he saw, he was still convinced that the country wasn’t ready for a black president. We started this debate in 2006 after my youngest son’s graduation. Barack Obama was the commencement speaker, and when he finished and walked off the stage, I said that the Democrats would be crazy not to nominate this man in ’08, that he represented their best shot at getting back to Pennsylvania Avenue because he had that indefinable power to move and unite people. Although my Dad agreed that he very well could be the right man for the job, he felt that people weren’t ready for it. He grew up in a very different world, a world in which racism was always present, and he just couldn’t see it happening. I think he would have really dug it.

S#*t, I can’t feel my fingers. Should a changed my gloves. Gotta go, but I'll leave you with one more thought:

Only 4 more weeks until pitchers and catchers show up at Spring Training!

Not Such Deep Thoughts; Special Decking The Halls Edition

2009-12-20T11:26:00.006-05:00

The last couple of weeks I’ve spent an inordinate amount of my free time either decking the halls, or aimlessly wandering through malls. Neither activity ranks very highly on the old berry funometer, but it has given me a lot of time to think (uh-oh…), and now it’s time to share those thoughts with you, if only to exorcise them from my brain. So, without further ado, I bring you a Special Decking The Halls Edition of Not Such Deep Thoughts:

Come on Randy, you better watch out. Santa knows that you’ve been dogging it, and pouting, and if things keep going like they’ve been going, I see a lump of coal in your future. On the other hand, were you to start hustling and playing through to the whistle, you just might be spending this holiday season with visions of a shiny new ring dancing in your head. From here on in, try thinking of each catch as a layaway payment towards the big bling.

Every time I go up in the attic, I smash my head on something. Get the tree, smash my head. Look for ornaments, smash my head. Bloody gashes on my dome are not a good look for me.

The Sox have given us an early present with the acquisition of Lackey and Cameron. Adrian Gonzalez would be the capper Theo, but please don’t go giving up Ellsbury to make it happen. Dump Buchholz if you want, but not Ellsbury.

Why on God’s green earth are the plugs on the pre-strung lights that are attached to our tree labeled C8, C12, C26 and G2, and why are the labels on 3 of the 4 marked with different colored dots? There are only 2 outlets on the main cord, and neither one is labeled or colored. I really wish I could find those directions…

I usually like Target’s holiday commercials. In previous years they’ve always been fast paced, colorful and set to infectious music. This year’s campaign is just depressing. I know they’re trying to pound home the “good deals in a bad economy” theme, but they just feel uncomfortable. I can’t help thinking that the families are going to erupt into a knock down drag out domestic dispute at any moment. “You bought a flat panel TV? I thought we discussed overspending” and “You spent too much, I’m really not that into you” are not the stuff of holiday memories, they're just creepy and depressing. Is it how Christmas plays out in a lot of families? Yes, but who wants to be reminded of that.

And speaking of bad holiday commercials, how about that strange one for the Kindle? You know the one; it has a woman who morphs from a mustachioed magician to Daniel Boone firing a musket, and its set to a sickly sweet song called “Fly me away”. The woman in the commercial is actually an Amazon contest winner who wrote the jingle herself, and as impressive as that is, it just doesn’t seem to fit the product to me. I get the whole “Kindle can bring you a gazillion different books and fly your mind away to wherever you want to go” thing, very artsy-fartsy, but the first few times I saw it I honestly thought it was going to be an ad for Southwest or Jet Blue. Besides, the Kindle is a sexy device; you need to show it off. You see it for about 2 seconds at the beginning of the commercial, then nothing but unrelated fluff for the rest of the spot. The money would have been better spent on a close up of the device as it changed screens between countless newspapers, magazines and books. Simple and to the point.

The best Christmas album ever made is Vince Guaraldi’s “A Charlie Brown Christmas”. It’s a must have for your collection. Don’t just dismiss it as a silly cartoon soundtrack, the man was a genius. The album is comprised of full versions of those all too familiar snippets from the cartoon, and his piano work floats and soars through each track against a backdrop of incredible jazz bass and percussion. The recording quality is fantastic, to boot. When I listen to it, it feels as if each note reaches in and gently massages the stress centers of my brain.

Malls suck during the holidays. They’re hot and crowded, the parking lots are like a demolition derby, and the food courts are like a middle school mixer.

I’m off now until the start of the New Year, and there’s nothing like it. It allows me to slow the pace down and actually enjoy the holidays. I’d been slogging my way towards this break like a Foreign Legionnaire slowly making his way towards an oasis, sand sucking at my feet with every step, a prayer on my lips that it was not a mirage I was seeing on the horizon. This past year has not been a memorable one on a lot of fronts, and now that I’ve finally made it to the finish, it feels like a great weight has been lifted from my shoulders. As a great man, and one of my role models growing up, once said; “Nothin to do but eat and sleep… and live off the fat of the land. Nyuck, nyuck, nyuck.”

If you’re listening Santa, all I want for Christmas this year is some quality family time and rest. Lots and lots of rest.

That is all.

Say it ain’t so, Pat….

2009-12-12T13:55:00.010-05:00

Our beloved mascot Pat Patriot was arrested in a prostitution sting this Friday in Rhode Island.

He was initially charged with one count of solicitation. A second charge of hindering a police investigation was added when he couldn’t remove his gloves for finger printing.

A Tale Of Two Teams

2009-12-11T21:29:00.012-05:00

Looks like I spoke too soon last week when I said that the Pats had a virtual lock on the AFC East. I expected this to be a rocky season, but come on. Brady’s getting hammered, the tight ends are missing in action, and as inexperienced as the secondary is, they can’t take all the blame on defense. Coverage becomes really difficult when the opposing QB has all day in the pocket.

It’s been a tale of two teams all season. There’s the first half (quarter?) Pats, that come out firing on all cylinders, and then there’s the second half Pats, who sputter and stall, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory all too often. Why are they breaking down so consistently? Maybe the goings on this week in Foxboro gives us a clue.

Four players were sent home for arriving late for practice on Wednesday. Although it was a nasty morning, Bill wasn’t taking any excuses and he sent them packing. That the coach would send Moss and Thomas home at a time when he needs them most says a lot. It says that he needs their attention more than they need practice. They have the ability; they just don’t have the drive.

I’m in awe of Moss and his abilities most of the time, but the trailing off on routes stuff just ticks me off, and maybe it ticks Bill off a little also. I know Adalius should be a force to reckon with, but this year he’s not. Belichick has already sat him out with no apparent injuries, and his sound bites are those of an unhappy man.

Now I’m not saying these guys are the main problem with this team, but I am saying they are symptomatic of the bigger picture. You can have all the talent in the world on your team, but it won’t matter a bit unless you are a team, and the ’09 Patriots are not.

Are they unhappy with the coaching? Maybe. This team needs an offensive coordinator desperately. They’re just too predictable, and they fail to make the adjustments needed as the game progresses. There’s also been some pretty strange play calling and a clear lack of communication amongst the coaching staff and the team, evidenced by the delay of game penalties, unnecessary time outs, punt team coming on even though Belichick is waving the offense to stay out there… I smell confusion in the ranks.

Are they lost without a clear leader amongst them? Maybe. A lot of the on field leadership left with Bruschi, Vrabel, Seymour and Harrison, and no one seems to be stepping up to fill those shoes.

They clearly needed a slap to wake them up, hell, they need an epiphany. Is it too late? No, but it will be soon. A team can gain a lot of momentum sweeping out, even against inferior teams. It’s a confidence builder and it gets a team rolling downhill into the playoffs.

Would they go far we’re they to make it? Yes, but only if they get that team thing going. The most memorable image for me of Super Bowl 36 will always be the way they came out onto the field en masse, and then stood huddled together on the sideline, hopping and chanting. You just knew they we’re there to kick some ass, and they did.

Come on guys, how about a little of that ass kicking attitude this Sunday? I know you’ve got it in you.

That is all.

You've gotta check out...

2007-10-30T23:25:00.002-04:00

the latest Bill Simmons piece: Sox win Most Valuable Team award. It sums up the 2007 Sox very nicely and I love his description of Papelbon at the end.

Simmons can be a very polarizing figure, people either love him or hate him. I enjoy his humor and his love of Boston sports, but what really strikes a chord with me is his relationship with his dad. My own dad is a rabid and lifelong Sox, Pats and BC fan and is enjoying his golden years in sunny Florida. I go down and visit him during spring training and he spends his summers up here with us, so we get to enjoy the Sox together for most of the season. The rest of the time we watch together over the phone and this post season has been no exception.

We had a very similar conversation on Sunday night and came to the same conclusion as the Simmons' men, the whole team could get the MVP. It was almost impossible to single anyone out of the team effort. We also would never have discussed the subject pre-final out back in '04. This one was waaaaay different.

The Sox seem to have turned that same corner that the Pats turned a few years back. You don't worry because you know they'll find a way to pull it out. That's because like the Pats, the current Red Sox are a team, first and foremost, and that's the key to success.

Verizon FiOS Set Top Box Issues

2009-12-08T23:13:00.010-05:00

Firmware download hoses up HDMI port

Verizon pushed down a firmware upgrade for their set top boxes on December 1st, and for the last week anytime you hit the guide function you were forced to see a message touting the new interactive services that the upgrade was enabling. You then needed to hit the OK key to proceed to the program guide, which was a pain, but a relatively small pain compared to the real problems that the upgrade caused for me.

Since the upgrade, my Motorola HD QIP 7000 set top box power cycles constantly when I try to shut it off. It wouldn’t be so bad if the box wasn’t in the bedroom, but it is.

The first night I noticed it, I had fallen asleep with the TV's sleep timer on, only to be awakened by a “Click”. At first I thought it was the TV turning off at the predetermined time, but it kept happening. Click, pause, Click, pause, Click, pause, over and over and over. It was very annoying.

I finally got up, flipped on the lights, and watched as the box first turned on, Click, then cycled through a couple of error code screens (8888 followed by ----), briefly showed the channel display, then… Click, shut itself off, only to repeat the process in an endless cycle. I had to unplug the darn thing so that I could finally get some sleep.

Next day I called Verizon and as soon as I mentioned the 8888/---- error codes, they knew what the problem was. Seems the new firmware update they’re so proud of breaks the HDMI port. When the QIP 7000 is connected via HDMI cable to a TV, and the TV is switched off, the box takes leave of its senses. Everything is fine as long as the TV is on, but once you shut it off, the box starts cycling. Sure enough, when I unplugged the HDMI cable from the TV, the box fell silent.

The good news is, they know what the problem is.

The bad news is, they don’t have a fix for it yet.

Until they do, you need to switch over to a set of component cables. You can also use coax or composite cables, but only component and HDMI give you a Hi Def signal on these boxes. The tech support person apologized for the inconvenience and promised to overnight me a set of composite cables. He also said that once the problem was fixed and I switched back to HDMI, I could hang on to the composite cables, compliments of Verizon. Wowzers, such a deal…

Before I hung up, I asked how they were going to notify me when the problem was fixed. I got put on hold for a minute, and when the tech returned he informed me that I wouldn’t, I should just check and see if the HDMI cable works every once in a while. Nice.

I should mention that I haven’t had any problems with my HD DVR QIP 7216 downstairs; it works fine, HDMI connection and all. This problem seems to be strictly limited to the HD QIP 7000 model, although there’s also a possibility that the problem is with specific types of TV’s. I’ve got the 7000 connected to a 1 year old Vizio and the 7216 connected to a 3 year old Samsung. HDMI connectors and cables are required to be backwards compatible between versions, and the tech never asked me what type of TV I had, so it’s probably not an issue, but you never know. If I get ambitious maybe I’ll try swapping the boxes, just to satisfy my own curiosity.

As soon as the new set of component cables arrived I hooked them up, and the problem is now solved. No more power cycling, and I actually think the picture is a little bit better than it was with the HDMI cable.

How is that possible? Well, it’s hard to explain, but the quality of the picture is determined in large part by how the components (TV and cable box) process the signal being received. There’s a great write up here on the eacoustics forum that explains it better than I can. The quality of the cables also factors in, and the component cables I received today appear to be of much better quality than the HDMI cable they originally gave me.

By the way, while I was waiting impatiently for the arrival of my new component cables, I was unplugging the HDMI cable before I turned things off. It’s a better temporary solution than unplugging the set top box. If you leave the box powered down you’ll not only miss the guide updates, you’ll also miss the fix, when and if they ever send it.

Theo Gets Scutaro, Kraft Getting Chickens

2009-12-05T12:07:00.007-05:00

The Sox continued their time honored holiday tradition of buying a new short stop every season with the acquisition of Marco Scutaro. When reached for comment, Theo said his long term goal is to set a Major League record for most players on the payroll that play for other teams and most players at a single position during a given GM’s tenure.

I think he’s already got both of them in the bag. Way to go, Theo!

In other Boston sports news, Robert Kraft has applied for a permit to raise chickens. In a statement to the press, Mr. Kraft said:

"Funding for the Stadium Footbridge has been removed from the stimulus package, and we see this as an innovative way to fund the project. For years my friends have been telling me about the wonderful times they have at this little chicken ranch in Nevada, so I figured why not open one up here. I’m sure the money saved on the flights will be spent on eggs and such. We’ve even been toying with the idea of painting little Pats helmets on the eggs. Very unique. Our slogan will be “Brown Eggs Are Local Eggs, And Local Eggs Are Pats.” I made that up."

And so did I. All kidding aside, although the Sox do seem to be a bit obsessed about finding the “right” shortstop, Scutaro may turn out to be a good acquisition. He’s definitely an offensive upgrade at short, and he really flashed some leather last year, but I liked having Gonzo back. He was a proven commodity from a defensive standpoint, and contrary to peoples fears, he turned out to be no slouch at the plate, either. All in all, I’d rather see them concentrating their efforts on resigning Bay.

As for Mr. Kraft and his chickens, whatever that man wants to do is all right with me. He’s a great guy and he’s done so much for both the franchise and New England in general, that I couldn’t find it in my heart to begrudge him over a few chickens. If he wanted to start an Alpaca farm, I’d be first in line for a big fuzzy hat and matching sweater. They’d be awesome for those late December games…

And speaking of games, don’t be jumping ship on our Pats just yet. I think we all tend to forget that this was a Brady-less team last year, and there’s going to be some fits and starts as they all readjust. Are they a consistent “top tier team”? Of course not, did you really expect them to be? Can they pull it together and close out the season on a high note? Yes, and that would be more than I expected of them. Hey, I’ve watched some pretty bad football over the years, and I’ll tell you this; a team that’s 7-4 with 5 games to go, and a virtual lock on the AFC East, is worth watching.

That is all.

Happy Black Friday!

2009-11-27T15:56:00.006-05:00

One of the best things about the Thanksgiving holiday for me is Black Friday, but not for the reasons you’d think.

I love it because it’s one of the few days each year when we have the day off and nothing pressing on our agendas. The day is usually ours to squander as we see fit, and that is a very rare commodity these days.

Our ideal Black Friday involves sleeping in, followed by lounging in our PJ’s, consuming mass quantities of coffee, and pondering the eternal question; “Is it too early to start on those leftover desserts?” The answer, my friends, is that it’s never too early.

What I don’t like about Black Friday is fighting the crowds at the malls and the big box stores in search of bargains. Been there, done that, have the T-shirt. Although there are some great bargains out there, the really good ones (like $179 laptops) are always in short supply, and you need to be in line on Thanksgiving Day just to be a contender when the store opens on Friday. No thanks.

It’s not worth it to me to miss out on Thanksgiving dinner with friends and family and the annual after Thanksgiving slouch fest, just to get a good deal on some material item. Now don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I can afford to pass up any bargains, it’s just that we’ve found out that: A) The downtime is more important to us, and B) A lot of the deals are available online.

Last year we were in need of some Apple products for the holidays, so I thought I'd check out their Black Friday sale and maybe save a little coin. Apple loves to shroud their events in secrecy, and this one was no different. They sent out an email a few days before the holiday that said to check out their website on Friday morning for great deals, so when we awoke, fashionably late, we got on line and found that there was indeed a substantial savings on quite a few items.

Being as it was already late, I called our local Apple retail store to see if the lines were out the door. I found out that they weren’t, but I also found out that the Apple store won't give you a corporate discount along with the Black Friday sale price. That was a bit of a bummer, but the sale prices were still good enough to make us want to saddle up and head down there. That’s when the very helpful sales associate suggested that we log in to the Apple site through our discount program and see if we could get our discount and the sale price that way.

Guess what? We could!

I should have tried to purchase it online right from the get go, but I had some preconceived notion that the best deals could only be had in person. Boy, was I wrong. We ended up getting some great deals, plus the shipping was free. Major items coming directly from Apple (like Macs and iPods) arrive very quickly, usually in just 2-3 days, even if they need to be engraved. By the way, my iPod has “Stayed home on Black Friday and still got this cheaper than you!” on the back.

So, it seems that in this weakened economy Cyber Monday has now become Cyber Weekend for most online merchants, and that’s good with me. Don’t spread it around too much though, I still like to see those shots on the news of the people in line outside of the malls, wrapped up in parkas and trash bags, waiting for the hunt to begin. Now that’s entertainment.

Ooh, gotta go. The news is coming on again!

Pats Whomp Jets 31-14!

2009-11-22T22:01:00.003-05:00

Rex and Sanchise cry all the way home. Film at 11.

Full game recap here on BDC.

Problems Creating Clips In Google Reader

2009-11-22T16:33:00.008-05:00

Clips are little “boxes of info” you can create in Google Reader that neatly display your most recent news feeds on your website, blog or Facebook page. You select the feed folder you want to display the content of, click “create clip”, and then customize it to your liking. When you’re satisfied with the look and content, you simply copy the HTML code Reader has created for you and embed it on your web page. The result is a neat little box containing the “x” most recent posts from any given feed. You can see the results over in my right hand border (Tech News, Patriots News, etc.).

Recently I started having problems creating clips. I’d click on create a clip, and nothing would happen except for an “errors on page” message at the bottom of my Explorer window. What’s supposed to happen is that Reader pops a small window that allows you to configure your clip. This was extremely frustrating for me, as I had a clip that had stopped updating. It either contained some bad code, or the source of the feed had stopped sending updates, and I wanted to replace it. There’s not much entertainment value for my readers when the same 5 headlines have been in my Celtics News clip for close to a month.

I did some searching through the Google Reader help files and came up empty, although I did find that people were having a similar issue with the “email a link” function, which is part of the same tool set as “create a clip”. The answer there was to create an exception for Google in your pop up blocker settings, and after reading it, the light went on inside my head.

I remembered that there had been quite a few security fixes pushed down for Explorer recently, and I also remembered that links in my received Gmail documents had started requiring me to “temporarily allow pop ups” too work. Hmmm, a pattern perhaps?

Yes!

I went into pop up blocker settings, added Google to my allowed sites, and Viola… create a clip was working again!

The screen shot above shows my blocker settings now. To access the settings window, go to “Tools”, “Pop up blocker”, “Pop up blocker settings”, then add the address www.google.com

As you can see in the screen shot (click to enlarge) this isn’t the first time I’ve had to do this. You can also add wildcards as I did with Verizon. Some of their pages use www22 instead of plain old www, tricky devils, so I entered *.verizon.net.

So, my Celtics news clip is working again, I’m happy, and maybe I’ve just made you happy too!

I’ve Been Waiting All Day For Sunday Night…

2009-11-16T00:49:00.003-05:00

Only to be bitterly disappointed.

That is all.

Gigaware In-line Control With HD Radio For iPhone

2009-11-15T00:08:00.008-05:00

As soon as I pull the trigger on the Griffin Navigate I talked about in the previous post, I find this: the Gigaware In-line Control with HD radio for iPhone. It allows remote control of your iPhone or Touch, and when used in conjunction with the Gigaware HD Radio app it doubles as an HD tuner.

Sounds great in theory, but I’m cool with the Navigate for now. The Gigaware costs a whopping $79.99 and it doesn’t have an LCD screen like the lower priced Navigate. The app only works on devices running iPhone OS 3 to boot, and I still haven’t made that jump on my Touch. That also means that it wouldn’t work with my 3rd gen Nano, and that’s the device I like to carry around when I’m traveling light. Plus the few user reviews available list poor HD reception and noise distortion as major issues.

So, as nice as it would be to have HD Radio on my iPod, this isn’t the device for me, at least not yet. I’ll wait ‘til the reviews and the price get better.

To Add An FM Tuner, Or Not To Add An FM Tuner…

2009-11-08T23:16:00.009-05:00

That is the question.

Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to wait, suffering the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and add one now?

The device I speaketh of is my iPod Touch, and the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune that I suffer is that when I’m out and about, like today, and the Pats (insert your favorite team here) are on, I need to carry my little micro AM/FM radio with me. Apple didn’t see fit to bestow upon my Touch an FM tuner, so I have little choice in the matter. They added one to the latest generation Nano and iPhone, but sadly, not to the Touch.

Luckily, there’s an FM tuner that works with the Touch, iPhone and 3rd gen and up Nanos, The Griffin Navigate. It’s a slick little inline remote with an OLED screen, and it doubles as an FM tuner. It can also be used with Griffin’s free iFM Radio Browser app that will look up all the available stations in your area and auto program them into your Touch or iPhone. Pretty cool!

Ay, but here’s the rub; 9to5Mac and other sources are reporting that there’s a dormant chip in the 3rd gen Touch, that when activated will allow both Wireless N and FM receive and transmit. Hmmm, sounds a little like their Bluetooth chip that an upgrade, for a price, to OS 3 gave greater functionality to. It’s been hypothesized that Apple may unveil this little on board extra as soon as this January.

So, is it worth shelling out 50 bucks for FM tuner functionality today, when the device may be unnecessary in a couple of months?

For me, yes. I have a 2nd gen Touch and a 3rd gen Nano. The Navigate works with both devices and neither has the dormant onboard capability, but if you own a new 3rd gen Touch, nuh-uh. Wait awhile, and you may save yourself some money. 50 bucks will buy you a pretty decent dinner, or a couple of my T-shirts!

By the way, the Patriots bested those knaves from Miami today, and I would have missed our plucky knight's great moment of victory, were it not for the lowly FM broadcast.

What say you now, Master Porter?

Windows 7

2009-11-01T13:48:00.006-05:00

Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you’re probably aware that Microsoft has released a new version of their operating system, Windows 7. According to early reports it’s a vast improvement over their Vista experiment, and it’s generating quite the buzz. Before you run out and buy a copy though, you should read this very comprehensive article on CNNTech, after you've read this one, of course.

The long and short of it is, it’s a cakewalk to upgrade from Windows Vista to Windows 7, but a bit more difficult to upgrade from XP.

With XP you'll need to back up all of your files, wipe the system, and then reload with 7. Microsoft has an Easy-Transfer Tool to help you, but before you make the move you need to download and run Microsoft’s Upgrade Advisor. It will check out your system and peripherals to see if they’re compatible with the new operating system. Be sure to have ALL of your peripherals plugged in and powered up before you scan your system (flash drives and memory cards included), as the software will query the devices and advise you of their compatibility. This is very important, as it’s good to know if you’ll still be able to use your printers, etc., before you drop any coin on 7.

My take is this; if you’ve got a new system that came with Vista, then it’s worth upgrading. If you’ve just bought a new system with a legacy copy of XP on it, it’s probably worth upgrading, providing the system and peripherals pass the upgrade tool’s sniff test. If you’re running XP on an older system, don’t even think about it. Wait until your next system swap out and get a machine that has it preloaded.

Remember, there are no magic bullets in life, or computing. A new operating system will not fix what’s wrong with your computer if it’s old, tired and slow. From the perspective of changing technologies, the average lifespan of a desktop is 3 to 5 years. I’m not saying you need to throw your PC away every 3 to 5 years, but I would not recommend tricking out a system of that vintage with the latest and greatest OS. Wipe it, add some memory and load a fresh copy of whatever OS came with it, and you’ll have a very serviceable PC that will last you until you have some sort of catastrophic hardware failure.

Getting back to Windows 7, there’s also the question of what version to buy. I found a very good article on the differences between the versions here on the digital inspiration site. As with both XP and Vista before it, you’ll probably want to go with the Windows 7 Professional edition if you use your PC for anything more than email and browsing. Professional also has an XP mode, that will allow you to run a virtual copy of XP for apps you have that won’t run on 7. The good thing is, with 7 you’re able to upgrade any version, for a small fee, if you find out later you need more functionality.

And speaking of fees, if you’re buying a copy of 7 for a computer you already have, you’re eligible for the upgrade pricing as long as you already own a genuine version of Windows 2000, XP or Vista. You’ll save a c-note over the full version price, and that ain’t bad.

Free Public Wi-Fi?

2008-07-24T00:12:00.015-04:00

Every so often when I refresh my available wireless networks list, “Free Public Wi-Fi” pops up as an available ad-hoc network. I usually don’t troll for signal unless I’m on the road, so seeing it pop up in numerous locations really piqued my curiosity.

Had I stumbled onto some great and noble geek humanitarian effort; a plan to give free Wi-Fi to the masses? Or, more likely, was it a diabolical plot by unscrupulous villains to steal my identity and trash my computer? I was intrigued, but as so often happens, I got busy, lost the thread, and never looked into it.

It popped up on my available networks list again last week while I was on vacation, then on my first day back someone asked me if I had ever seen a “Free Public Wi-Fi” offering and if I knew what it was. They even voiced my own fears that it was someone up to no good. Well, that was it. I started Googling and found a plethora of information.

It seems the phenomenon has been around for a while. The first reference I found to it was in 2006 on the Houston Chronicle’s TechBlog. It appears to be a Microsoft “feature”. When your laptop can’t find a wireless network to connect to, it will offer itself up as an ad-hoc node for others to connect to, advertising itself with the name of the last ad-hoc network it tried to join. I guess Windows is sending out an electronic mating call, in search of other offline geeks.

The Chronicle writer’s theory on the actual spread of the SSID name “Free Public Wi-Fi” is very good and is worth the read. After you finish this, of course.

The Fix:

To be done with it once and for all, open up your “Available wireless connections” screen, click on “Change advanced settings” and check the box “Access point (infrastructure) networks only” under “Networks to access”. That’s it. No more Free Public Wi-Fi. No more ad-hoc networks period.

It would have been much cooler if it really had been a great and noble geek humanitarian effort. I’m so disappointed.

Windows Autorun/Autoplay Problems

2009-03-01T22:24:00.005-05:00

I recently did some major scrubbing and upgrading of my system, and as is often the case, broke something in the process.

My PC had gotten sluggish; it needed a good cleaning and more memory. Norton had flagged a couple of downloaders and a Trojan Webkit that it couldn’t remove, or quarantine, so I decided just to nuke it and start over.

Confident that I had a good backup, I popped the hood and added another 2 gig of RAM, then reloaded Windows. Next I spent about 2 hours researching and removing all of the useless crap that comes bundled on the reload disks. Once I was happy with it, I plugged in the network cable and began downloading and applying all of the security patches and updates that had come out for service pack 2, culminating in the application of service pack 3. Done, or so I thought…

The computer was running great. It was clean as a whistle and fast as lightning, and I was a happy man. That is, until the first time I popped a CD into one of the drives.., and nothing happened.

Normally the Autoplay wizard fires up when you insert or connect any media or media devices into your PC. It’s the little wizard that pops up and asks you what you’d like to do with said media. Insert a CD, DVD, USB drive or connect a camera or MP3 player, and it asks you to choose a program to open, play or import data with. It’s not a necessity to have, but it sure makes life easy.

If I opened up My Computer, I could see the media mounted in the drive, so I could use it, but something was blocking Autoplay from starting. I checked all of my settings, and found the process was enabled on all of the drives, so I began searching the Interwebs for an answer.

First I found this document on the Microsoft Help and Support site. It described the problem to a T, and came to the conclusion that the problem was caused by having certain versions of Easy CD Creator loaded on the machine. The fix was to remove the software, and then make some registry changes to re-enable Autoplay. Not having this program, I continued to search for an answer more appropriate for my situation.

Then I found this link to an Autoplay Repair Wizard available from the Microsoft Download Center. After verifying the authenticity of my copy of Windows, Microsoft allowed me to download and run the wizard, which indeed found a problem, fixed it, and wrote the changes and results to a log file. The wizard requires you to log out and then log back in to complete the fix, and once I did, the system immediately recognized the CD I had in one of the drives and fired up the Autoplay feature. Sweet.

Just to be certain I had the problem licked, I switched the CD to the secondary drive. I’m glad I did, because I found that I wasn’t done. I ended up having to run the wizard on all of my drives and ports, one at a time, with a logout in between each. For the USB drives, I had to insert a thumb drive to get them to show up in the wizard’s device repair list, but once I fixed the first one, they all began to work again. It was a bit tedious, but it looks like my system is finally back to normal.

This must be a fairly common problem, as Microsoft has come up with a repair wizard for it. The last puzzler I had like this was the Media Center black screen problem, which they also had a wizard to fix. My post on that problem, and repair, has been the top visited post via keyword search on my blog for over 6 months now, so I hope this one proves to be just as helpful.

Windows Media Center - Black Screen Syndrome

2008-06-24T22:11:00.017-04:00

I recently went to start up Media Center on my PC and instead of getting the expected Microsoft sound and the familiar blue window... I got nothing.

Actually, I got more than nothing. I got a black screen, and a little acid reflux.

I use the Media Center PC for all my video processing. It's one big ass Tivo, with all kinds of inputs and tuners, just perfect for recording and mixing all kinds of media.

Personally, I think Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 was Microsoft's best work, and they should have stopped there. It was the step before Vista, and it's the best of both worlds. It boots up in XP and allows you to start up the Vista-ish Media Center when you need it.

So anyways, the PC is a pure work horse and I try to keep it clean. No careless surfing, no installs of anything until I've done my homework.

But as I'm sure you know, it's not always easy to keep a networked computer clean. I went to a site that I thought belonged to a university, but soon discovered it was a spoof, and blam!, I picked up a downloader.

I struggled with it for a while, and hopefully I won the battle. I'll chronicle that little adventure in another post. What I want to talk about now are the after effects.

Shortly after the downloader incident, Media Center stopped working. Whenever I'd click on the green desktop icon I'd get a black screen.

At first, all I could do was Ctrl+Alt+Del and stop the process, with no idea what was going on, and even that wasn't easy. The screen would briefly show the Media Center window and the Task Manager, then revert to black. It took two or three in a row to get control over the window.

I couldn't find anything obviously wrong with the system. It performed just fine as long as I didn't try to start Media Center.

So, being a natural born rock head, I opened Media Center again (and again, and again), until I found that if I hit Ctrl+Esc I got some control. The Media Center screen would appear and I could click one option, and then I was back in black. The next Ctrl+Esc showed that I had advanced to the Videos screen, and now I had a valid error message: "The video decoder has either malfunctioned or is not installed".

A Clue!

After a little searching, I found this site: Windows XP Video Decoder Checkup Utility. Once the great and powerful Microsoft determined that my copy of Windows was on the up and up, I downloaded DECCHECKSetup.exe. Running the setup installs the Video Decoder Checkup Utility under Programs, Windows Media.

When you fire up the utility, it goes off and checks for installed video decoders and reports back on what you have, which ones are Media Center and Media Player compatible, and which one is set as the "preferred decoder". Nice little utility!

Right away I saw that my InterVideo decoder had been deposed by a pretender to the throne.

The utility allows you to change the preferred decoder after it finishes it's check, and just like that, I was back in business.

The wrong video decoder will also cause similar problems with Windows Media Player 10 and 11, so the Decoder Check Utility is a handy tool to have even if you're not running Media Center. The fact that Microsoft has a utility specifically for this problem indicates that it's pretty common.

The Beauty of Fall

2009-10-31T00:33:00.010-04:00

A longing for one more day

2009-10-29T21:34:00.004-04:00

When we lose someone we love it seems that time stands still. What moves through us is a silence, a quiet sadness, a longing for one more day, one more word, one more touch.

We may not understand why you left this earth so soon, or why you left before we were ready to say good-bye, but little by little, we begin to remember not just that you died, but that you lived. And that your life gave us memories too beautiful to forget.

-Anonymous

The Rabbit Ears Report

2009-06-14T22:42:00.007-04:00

Well, they finally pulled the plug on analog broadcasts, and I’ve been ensconced in my little ramshackle pool house ever since, testing and tweaking. Initial reports are good, and I’m now sure of 3 things:

1. I should have cut over sooner.

2. The old rabbit ears with the bow tie UHF add-on work better then the RCA amplified HDTV antenna that I had picked up a while ago.

3. My wife thinks I’m certifiably insane, and has suggested that perhaps I should live out there.

While I’m tempted to take her up on the offer, I’m gonna have to pass for now. No heat, no fridge, no NESN.., no berry.

Ok, time to get down to business. On the antenna front, I truly got much better results with the “stock” rabbit ears that came with the TV. As a matter of fact, the powered RCA imparted a small amount of noise, evident in a slight but annoying screen shimmy that increased as I turned up its gain. Perhaps with a longer cable this wouldn’t be a problem, but I’m limited for space in the old pool house (think walk in closet). I actually considered trying it up on the roof, but then I realized a.) I’d really have a hard time adjusting it, and b.) If I didn’t fall off the roof, I’d probably fall through it, so I gave up and went back to the bunny ears.

Below is my new station list, color coded to indicate the amount of effort involved in getting a clear picture with an indoor antenna. Black indicates little or no manipulation was required. Blue indicates some fiddling and diddling required. Red indicates that you really have to work the antenna to get a glimpse of anything, and what you get isn’t exactly watch-able. Note: this result was after numerous repositions and rescans, you won’t get them all registered on the first pass.

2-1 WGBH-SD Boston, MA PBS
2-2 WGBH-HD Boston, MA PBS
4-1 WBZ-TV Boston, MA CBS
5-1 WCVB-DT Boston, MA ABC
7-1 WHDH-HD Boston, MA NBC
7-2 WHDH-SD Boston, MA This TV
25-1 WFXT-DT Boston, MA FOX
38-1 WSBK-DT Boston, MA Independent
44-1 WGBX-DT Boston, MA PBS
44-2 WGBX-DT Boston, MA PBS World
44-3 WGBX-DT Boston, MA PBS Create
44-4 WGBX-DT Boston, MA PBS Kids
56-1 WLVI-DT Boston, MA CW
66-1 WUTF-DT Marlborough, MA TeleFutura
68-1 WBPX-DT Boston, MA ION
68-2 WBPX-DT Boston, MA qubo
68-3 WBPX-DT Boston, MA IONLife
68-4 WBPX-DT Boston, MA Worship

One oddity I noticed is that when I first tested digital reception last weekend I got 7-1 and 7-2 as clear as a bell, and didn’t get 5-1 at all. This weekend, after the cutover, just the opposite is true. Hmmmm… interesting. Perhaps WHDH hasn’t gone full power yet, or maybe they were already at full power, and other stations are drowning them out now. Oh well, I can live without them for now, but I’m curious to hear what others have found, so be sure to chime in with your own results. I’m sure I’m not the only nut job out there.

At least I hope I’m not…

Vizio VW26L LCD HDTV

2008-03-30T22:15:00.014-04:00

OK, I finally bit the bullet and replaced our perfectly good but outrageously large Sony Wega flat tube TV in our bedroom with an LCD HDTV. Don't worry, the Sony has found a new home in one of the spare bedrooms that previously had a 13 inch "whack the side when the brightness drops" TV. I'd never put my beloved Wega out on the street.

I'd been holding off on the TV shuffle for a variety of reasons. First, the deteriorating TV was in a spare room, so it wasn't a priority. Second, I was still relatively happy with my "big baby" Sony flat tube, even though it ate up quite a bit of free space in our bedroom. And lastly, I haven't seen anything in the "can't pass that up" category for LCD HDTV's.

I love the Samsung LCD that I have in my man cave. It's part of the 53H line, which are their top 720p models. I love the picture quality, features and the space saving bottom mounted speakers on these TVs, but I don't love their price. A 19" 53H goes for about $400, a 23" is over $600, a 26" is over $700 and a 32" is over $800. I wanted at least a 26" in the bedroom but I just couldn't see shelling out $700+ for a bedroom TV. Although I would never skimp on our main TV, I'm thrifty (OK, a cheapskate) when it comes to the rest.

All the cheaper makes and models I looked at either lacked the picture quality or the features I desired. I'm constantly checking out the TV "lineups" in the electronics stores, looking for something that has the clarity and color of the big names, but with a smaller price, and lately one manufacturer has caught my eye. Vizio. The picture looks as good if not better side by side with the top of the line Samsungs and Sharps, and while not feature rich, they have a very nice assortment, including bottom mounted speakers so that the TVs don't look as big as most of the others in their size range.

It has a variety of inputs, most notably 2 HDMI's, and the NTSC/ATSC/QAM tuners allow you to receive HD signals via antenna as well as digital SD and HD broadcasts via cable, both with and without a box. A little known HD factoid is that you can receive SD digital and some HD digital signals via Comcast cable without a box if you have a QAM tuner. You won't get the high end channels in high def, but you will get PBS, CBS, ABC, NBC and Fox in both standard and high definition, so you don't need to go adding cable boxes all over your house. The high def channels register as 7-1, 7-2, etc., just as they would if you were using an HD antenna.

Another feature I like on the Vizios is that when you set the screen width (aspect ratio) on one SD channel, the setting is applied to all of the SD channels. The choices are 16:9, Panoramic and 4:3 for SD channels. 16:9 stretches the picture to fill the screen, giving everything a slightly fatter look. Panoramic stretches just the edges of the picture to fill the screen, giving you a more natural look while still taking advantage of the wide screen. 4:3 gives you that square "regular TV" look that we're all so used to, but is an incredible waste of screen space. On a lot of wide screen HDTV's, SD broadcasts don't look as sharp as they do on a 4:3 set, but the Vizio does a nice job of 2:3 pull-down and the picture is sharp enough to expand to wide screen and still look pretty great.

I settled on the Vizio VW26LHDTV, which Walmart has for $474. It's a lot of TV for under $500. The only short comings with this set are the lack of RCA or optical audio outputs, it has mini stereo only (the larger Vizio sets have multiple audio outs), and the lackluster remote (no back light). These didn't influence my purchase though as my bedroom sound system has a mini stereo input and we've also got a back lit touchscreen universal remote. Gotta have two remotes in the bedroom, his and hers.

So I'm a happy camper. I didn't spend a ton of money, I can watch HD in bed, we gained all kinds of space, and overnight guests will no longer have to whack the TV in the spare room to watch it. Plus, I get to visit with my trusty old Sony whenever I've been bad...

Minicom - Video over CAT5

2008-04-10T23:56:00.009-04:00

I've mentioned these babys before but I had occasion to play with them again this week and I was so pleased with the results that I thought they were worth mentioning again.

The Minicom AVDS system broadcasts audio and video over CAT5 twisted pair wire. They're a Godsend if you have a need to pump audio and video feeds around your business and you don't want to clutter your data network or run coax everywhere. They have a VGA input, 8 RJ45 outputs, a mini audio out and a VGA out for a local monitor. You can also cascade them, like you would with a switch or a hub.

I feed them from a PC with a tuner card and use the existing voice and data infrastructure to plumb the signal to anywhere I've got a voice or data jack (which is pretty much everywhere). On the receiving end, I use a standard Ethernet office cable plugged into a receiver unit, which in turn gets plugged in to a monitor via the VGA and mini out. Voila, TV feeds at the drop of a hat.

The specs on these units calls for CAT5 shielded wire, but I'm a risk taker, so I tried pumping them into my standard CAT5e unshielded wiring, and they worked fine. I'm pushing all eight outputs on one unit varying distances up to 300' and the picture is good enough to show on a 50" plasma. When the company slide show is running the clarity of the picture is unbelievable, and the results when I pump CNN to them is almost as good.

There's a more detailed writeup on how they can be integrated into existing building infrastructure on my website www.berryjooks.com. Go to the Tech Tips page and look for the Video over CAT5 article.

I also use a variation of this at home to send video from my Media Center PC to various TVs. There's a nice hi def version, the DS Vision, that delivers hi def video and stereo audio in the same manner. The biggest plus for me with this method of delivery is that I'm not clogging up my data pipes by streaming video through the switches. I don't care how good your network is, if you can segment out the video without going to great expense, that's huge. Check 'em out.

Samsung LN19A330 LCD HDTV

2008-10-21T09:22:00.011-04:00

The Samsung Series 3 19” LCD HDTV is a great choice if you’re looking for a smaller TV for the kitchen, spare bedroom or office.

The Series 3 is Samsung's entry level, or plain vanilla line, but that’s what you want to look for in a small TV. You want the best quality for the best price, and you usually don’t need a lot of bells and whistles.

The LN19A330 has got the same wide viewing angles (178x178) that the higher series have, the same deep blacks and sharp picture, the same fast response time (No motion blur on Monday Night Football!). The only place it lacks is in the “extras” department. For instance, there’s only 1 HDMI input, no PiP, no memory stick or Ethernet ports, but this is all stuff you can live without if the TV isn’t meant for use in a main viewing area.

It’s an incredibly small and sleek set. Because of the narrow bezel and bottom mounted speakers, it really doesn’t take up much more space than a 15” set, but those few extra inches of screen really make a big difference in viewing pleasure. Also, the good viewing angles are a huge plus that you won’t get in a lot of smaller sets, and it’s an extremely important feature for a TV in a work area like a kitchen, where you’re moving around.

It’s also light, weighing in at just 11.5 lbs., making it easy to move from the kitchen to the patio, or down to Man Town for an extra TV on game day. It’s got an NTSC/ATSC/QAM tuner, which means you get Hi Def programming with an antenna or cable, both with or without a box, making it even more versatile.

There’s a very comprehensive review of the LN19A330 here on Crutchfield’s website.

While the manufacturers and big box stores are pushing the 40” and above sets, there’s a real need out there among consumers for high quality, lower priced sets. The LN19A330 is regularly priced at $379, but I’ve seen it on sale for as low as $349, so watch the weekly circulars. As the holidays, and the digital deadline approaches, prices will be dropping.

If you’re looking for something just a little bit bigger, but still a great value, check out our review of the Vizio VW26L.