March 2003 Archives

CinemaQuest, Inc. - Home Page. Believe it or not, a big improvement for me at home was having the right backlight on the television. This is actually pretty important and it is cheap to get the right light. However, Cinemaquest seems like the only folks with the exact right color light bulb. Check it out.

Axiom Forum. I've always been looking for speakers stands and mounts. here's a list from Axiom forum: * "Btech":http://btech-usa.com * "Omnimount":http://omnimount.com * "Vogels":http://vogelsusa.com * "Racks and Stands":http://www.racksandstands.com/. And amazingly, there is an entire online store dedicated to just mounts

So I have an Audiotron that takes MP3s from my PC and plays them over the stereo. Need another one now. Here are the latest ones. * "PC World Overview":http://www.pcworld.com/resource/article/0,aid,108818,00.asp. A good overview of Primiq, HP, Cd30. There are five others not mentioned, but they were announced at CES. * "TechTV: cd3o first look":http://www.techtv.com/freshgear/products/story/0,23008,3414506,00.html. YOu install software on your PC, then you search tracks and then their c300 connects to your audio system. $250 list for extended range, $150 for wired ethernet version. * "HP Digital Media Receiver":http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,856957,00.asp. Both Ludwig and "GuavaMundo's":http://guavamundo.com Sam McKelvie got these for $200. Has a proprietary software connection. * "Prismiq":http://prismiq.com. Supports both MP3 playing and low bit rate MPEG. * "Grid Connect":http://www.gridconnect.com/. An el cheapo box, but they bought the right keyword on Google. * SLIMP3. It's very hackable. * "Yamaha":http://www.yamaha.com/yec/products/PDFs/MCS_bro_v2s.pdf. It stream over 802.11b to small boxes you can distribute in the home; but depends on a proprietary server.

More on what is supposedly happening inside the administration: * Advisers Split as War Unfolds (washingtonpost.com). Interesting inside view on what is happening and how Powell is playing consumate insider vs. Rumsfeld. Also on Rumsfeld's larger ambitions. * "Offense and Defense":http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?030407fa_fact1. Seymour Hersch is another reporter with view on the inside. Has some interesting things to say about planning for all of this.

Figuring out who to listen to (no pun intended) for home theater equipment isn't easy. Here are the places I check out: * "Home Theater Spot":http://hometheaterspot.com. OK, so I know Paul who runs it, but he's an expert at great home theater video particularly. * "Home Theater Magazine":http://hometheatermag.com. They have most of their reviews archived. * "The Perfect Vision":http://theperfectvision.com. Unfortunately, most of their reviews do require you put down some cash. Easiest thing to do is to actually subscribe. * SoundStage! Reviewers' Choice. Not sure how good these are, but an interesting list of reviews. Another interesting thing is how you can pretty much buy some great equipment direct from manufacturers rather than via dealers. Here's a list of equipment that have gotten great reviews that are available: * "Outlaw Audio":http://www.outlawaudio.com/home.html. They have a very good, but inexpensive receiver the Outlaw 1050 for $500. They also have a well reviewed pre-amp/amp combination for $1,700. * "Better Cables":http://bettercables.com. Great high end cables at a low price. * "SVS Subwoofers":http://svsubwoofers.com. I don't have a set myself, but I've heard great things about their subwoofers. * "Axiom Audio Speakers":http://www.axiomaudio.com/products.html. I don't own this set, but the Reviewschoice.com seems to love these speakers. Very reasonable prices. The M2i is just $255 a pair.

I've been following the news like everyone else. Since everyone is giving opinions, I thought I'd give mine based on years of in-fighting in a big company. Here's my bet about what is going on: * Rumsfeld Faulted For Troop Dilution. First, I don't know, but I would bet that Rumsfeld is one of those classic CEOs I've met many times. Incredibly great infighter, never going unstealth, but always pushing. This latest report about him denying more troops is a classic to me. He can always claim that someone below asked for it. I just love the part where the civilians (Wolfie no doubt) call the generals stupid. Sigh. * "Wars Goals":http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A49102-2003Mar29.html. Another classic problem. There is a big difference between the Powell doctrine of overwhelming force and focusing on winning vs. what is politically expedient. The only thing I hope is that there is someone at the top levels in the Pentagon willing to destroy their careers to tell the truth. Or, there is a Daniel Ellsberg somewhere who will blow the whistle. I only pray that the troops over there get enough to do the job right. Rather than having another Vietnam or Lebanon. * "Anger in Middle EAst":http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48367-2003Mar29.html. Of course, you can easily argue that hte real hearts and mind war is already lost. Another lesson from Vietnam and Lebanon. * "Losing the PR war":http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45187-2003Mar28.html. A good piece about how the "marketing" of the war really didn't work.

At last something that isn't about the war. I'm putting together a home theater system for my dad. This is a mid-range one and includes the following: * "Pioneer SD533HD5":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=585816. Actually I probably should have gotten a unit with DVI for the future (this is a new fangled digital connector), but didn't understand it until too late. Looks good, although I'm completely spoiled by my own Mitsubishi 73903. * "Panasonic DVD-XP30":http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/shootout.cgi?function=search&articles=all. Secrets of Home Theater has the most comprehensive testing ever. I actually got Dad an DVD-RP56 last year which is pretty darn good, but this XP30 is superb and only "$175":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=608872/, it is hard to beat. * "Outlaw 1050":http://www.outlawaudio.com/products/1050.html. This is a mail-order only budget audio-video receiver. It doesn't have all the sound modes (and the licensing fees) of the big boys like the Denon AVR-2803, but it sounds great and is only $500. Nice to support a little company in the world of consumer electronic giants. * Energy Take 5. They don't make these any more, but five years ago they were just great sounding. * "Samsung TS-151":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=691699. There are equivalent Zenith and Panasonic models, but this one seems the most common. It is a high definition tuner for over-the-air terrestial signals. This is the cheapest way to get HDTV right now. You don't have to buy a satellite or cable. I'm also doing a budget home theater system for our family room. Here is what I've got for that: * Sony 32XBR100. This is an old television set. It isn't HDTV, but boy is it wonderful looking. When I got it five years ago it was state of the art. * "Denon 2803":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=703757/blsrt=1. The current state of the art. Has every decoding mode under the sun box. All for $584 today. I love competition. * "Paradigm Atom":http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/paradigm_atom.htm. Top rated by "The Perfect Vision":http://www.paradigm.ca/Website/SiteParadigmProduct/PReviews/Paradigm/PerfectVision/PV_Atom_CC_ADP70_PDR12.pdf, "Stereophile":http://www.stereophile.com/showarchives.cgi?664 and the other reviews are glowing as well. You need a pair of Atoms ($170), a CC-170 for the center, ADP-70 for the surrounds and PDR-12 subwoofer. Main issue is that you have to find a local dealer. * "Acoustic Research AR HC-6":http://www.hometheatersound.com/equipment/acousticresearch_hc6.htm. These also got great reviews in The Perfect Vision. Much more available as well from "Pricegrabber":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=463769.

CDI Defense Alamanac 2002. Another great compendium of facts about the military. From the NY Times reference "Iraq Navigator":http://www.nytimes.com/ref/international/IRAQ_NAVIGATOR.html?pagewanted=all&position=top. Interesting facts: US Army Divisions 1990: 18 US Army Divisions in "Desert Storm":http://www.desert-storm.com/soldiers/army.html : 8 US Army Divisions 2002: 10 US Army Divisions in Iraq so far: 2 (+1 on the way) US Navy Carriers 1990: 15 US Navy Carriers 2002: 12 US Navy Carriers in Iraq Theater: 5

New Reality, Hard Choices. A great piece on what to do next. Personally, I think consolidate in the south and wait for reinforcement. I bet that this doesn't happen though, I would bet Rumsfeld & Co. want to just drive, drive, drive. I hope not too many folks die and he is right.

military news about Nations Around the World. A great Jay Leno like assessment of where we are from James Dunnigan.

AccuWeather.com - Middle East Weather - Iraq, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and more. It's a key variable the weather as the last 48 hours has shown. The miracle of the Internet means we can all see what is going on over there. Pretty warm and pleasant right now.

More Analysis. I thought I'd blog it so that we can compare notes and see what really happened. Daily Kos: More From Officer X. I'm not military guy, but a good analysis from Officer X on the mistakes in the plan. The essential one was planning based on the expectation that it would be a cake walk. Oh well. Hope it all works out. I kind of like Officer X's alternative plan. Stay in the desert and work your way up. Don't power through areas, no way to be ambushed. War Could Last Months, Some Military Officers Say (washingtonpost.com). My personal bet is that it goes through November 2003. We'll see who is right. But, I kind of like the plan sketched in the Washington Post piece. Consolidate in the South. Defeat in detail and then ring Baghdad and take on forces one at a time. Maybe the immortal optimists (Rumsfeld and Wolfie) will be proved wrong long enough by the pragmatists. I know I'm going to be reading the Washington Post every day to find out. That paper is just amazing at getting the insiders view.

The Official AVS HDTV Forum STB Synopsis. At last one place where lots of HDTV set top box reviews are kept. Really hard to find this. Surprised that google couldn't. Great reading on the current generation. I'm right now looking for an high definition television receiver for good old over-the-air with a plain old antenna. If you can believe it, that's the way to get most stations. My dad's new house has a clear shot at Queen Anne Hill, so he should be able to get most of them. There are quite a few set top boxes that do this, but I'm looking for a cheap one for him. There appear to be three that fit the bill with lots of folks arguing about what is best. Main thing is that they cost about $350 according to "Pricescan":http://www.pricescan.com/electronics/scripts/Q03010106.asp, so it isn't an arm and a leg. Personally, I'm waiting for high definition Tivo so I can record and pray that Dish gets lots more high definition content. * "Three-way comparison":http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=15c13567e905b5a241a0458a9a2fbca5&threadid=238498&highlight=zenith+hdv420. An interesting comparison of the three. Basically the same. * "Zenith HDV420":http://www.projectorexpert.com/Pages/zenith.html. Someone actually did some measurement on it and found it slightly better than the Samsung TS-151 in sensitivity and multipath rejection, so it should pull in signals better. It is $370 at "Cousins":http://www.shopcousinsvideo.com/zenhdathdrec.html. * "Panasonic TUDST52":http://ww1.onecall.com/PID_17460.htm. It is $360 from OneCall right now. Best attribute is that it is very small. * "Samsung TS-151":http://www.projectorexpert.com/Pages/samsung2.html. About "$360":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=691699/ as well. Samsung makes lots of boxes and this one fixed some earlier problems with the TS-150. BTW, the Projector Expert also has good scientific reviews of "antennas":http://www.projectorexpert.com/Pages/antout.html as well.

Daily Kos: What the Experts Are Saying. Most cogent analysis I've read. Personally, I sure hope we take the middle course. That is slow up, let the 4th Infantry Division show up, have the 3rd ID be methodical. BTW, report on MSNBC was that the 82nd Airborne is in theater and is trying to solidify the rear areas. The 101st is destined to be part of the Baghdad assault. The rough conclusion of the writer of the piece is that the "shock and awe" thing didn't work. Is it just me, or does this whole thing smack of the airpower will win everything and it will be easy didn't work this time. It did work in Afghanistan and Serbia, so maybe it would be interesting to ask why. Bet it wouldn't work in Korea though.

Had lots of questions last night. Amazingly starting in the AM, they got answered. Main depressing thing is confirmation about the war planning overoptimism by Rumsfeld and other civilians, ignoring of advice and general meddling in lots of things. Ugh. Bureaucrats get people killed. Echoes of the Vietnam War. Depressing fact is that the 4th Mechanized will arrive next month and then in May, the 1st Cavalry. It takes a long time to off load. Only good news is that perhaps that those McNamara clones might actually back off: * "Television knocked off the air after US says allies strike":http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/03/25/international2239EST0909.DTL. Well, they did hit the television station, but it was on the air apparently later, but at least, they are working at it. * "Al Jazeerah": http://www.aljazeerah.info/. The English language version. Good reading to get the other POV. * "Troops to back Basra uprising":http://www.thescotsman.co.uk/international.cfm?id=360492003. Explosions were heard as Iraqi units loyal to Saddam attempted to quell the insurrection by firing artillery rounds and mortars horizontally at short range into crowds on the streets. * "Risks of Rumsfeld's strategy becoming apparent, experts say":http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascitystar/5473421.htm. Knowledgeable defense and administration officials say Rumsfeld and his civilian aides at first wanted to commit no more than 60,000 American troops to the war on the assumption that the Iraqis would capitulate in two days. Intelligence officials say Rumsfeld, his deputy Paul Wolfowitz and other Pentagon civilians ignored much of the advice of the CIA and the Defense Intelligence Agency. "The secretary of defense cut off the flow of Army units, saying this thing would be over in two days. He shut down movement of the 1st Cavalry Division and the 1st Armored Division. Now we don't even have a nominal ground force." said a former general familiar with the war plans. There was nothing too small for them to meddle with," said one senior official. "It's caused no end of problems, but I think we've managed to overcome them all."

Tom's Hardware Guide Displays: LCD 17: Samsung 171N & NEC LCD1760V vs. Everyone Else - NEC LCD1760V (and 1760NX). Finally something other than the war. The battle of the 17" LCD monitors is happening. Here's the best according to Tom's Hardware. The incredibly well anmed NEC LCD 1760V. Hey do these guys learn naming from the military? The other great ones reviewed are the Hitachi CML174SXW and the Iiyama AS4314UTG. Again, real winners in terms of naming.

The AgonistFlash XLIX. He's wondering where the 4th Infantry Division is and the 82nd. I thought a bunch of the 82nd Airborne is in Afghanistan and the 4th is in the US while their equipment makes it way around the Suez Canal. Points out there is a lockdown of information right now.

Since there are so many great bloggers covering the news and so forth from whatever point of view, I thought I'd being a blog of the good questions I've heard over the last day. Then it's off to sleep * On CNN, they asked the Comcent folks, who don't you just turn off the Iraqi TV, seems like it is a way to get the Iraqi people excited. Apparently, the briefers said essentially, "We'll do it when Tommy Franks says." As the anchor there (I'm beginning to like the guy I think) said, "we just ask the questions." * On MSNBC, they had a good list of folks watching the Arab press. BTW I wish I could get Al Jazeera and understand it. Points out the words are different. For instance, this isn't call Operation Iraqi Freedom. It is called the War of Occupation. * On NPR, a watcher of both Western and Arab presses says each comes with their own POV. He's amazed that CNN for instance hasn't shown wounded civilians in Basra. * On Fox, someone points out that the southern Shia's a definitely not rising up against Saddam as hoped. Big firefight going on the supply line. * On all, big questions about how strung out folks are and the lack of combat power. I think he called it, "war on the cheap." Most frightening comment of the night IMHO. * So as not to be depressing. A sages assessment "Ralph Peters":http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/71625.htm. Reminds of Colin Powell's point about how optimism is a force multiplier. * Why is there a Marine general in charge of the northern Iraq. Interesting. I'm confused. Jointness taken to the logical extreme? Good night, I'm off to bed. A big sandstorm over there and sounds like there's a 24 hour pause as resupply happens.

You can hope and pray, but it won't be. I was up until 1AM watching CNN the other night. I still can't believe you can watch this stuff. Anyway, more websites for news junkies: * Eye On Iraq. Like Global Strategy, has a good listof things going on. * "Naval Open Source Intelligence":http://nosi.editthispage.com/. Amazing what you can collect just by reading the Internet. This guy has a good blog as well. * "Baghdad looms ahead":http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2879057.stm. BTW, the blogs of BBC correspondents is good too, but they keep moving the URL so go to the "BBC":http://bbc.co.uk main page to find it under war diaries. * Main thing on CNN has been where are all the other heavy troops. So much for a bunch of Special Forces is all we need (Mr. Rumfeld). Main depressing thing was Wesley Clark asking, where is that other heavy corps. They sure could use it now. I'm going to bed :-(

If you are like me and are glued (simultaneously) to CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, MSNBC, Fox News, then you'll love some of these sites. Every technical details. Worst part though is the next time, a reporter says, we are watching that tank, you'll grimace and say that ain't no tank, that dope, doesn't he know thats a "M1068A3 Standard Integrated Command Post System Carrier":http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/m1068.htm. Also know as the mobile command post for the division. Anyway the sites I use: * "Global Security":http://www.globalsecurity.org. If you can donate to these guys, they are chewing up bandwidth. Some great sub parts of their sites are "Army Order of Battle":http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/army/index.html where you can see what units are related to what and the "Marine":http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/usmc/index.html version is there too. Good for understanding the difference between the 1st MEF and the 1st Marine Division (a good quiz show question). * "Federation of American Scientist MAN":http://www.fas.org/man/index.html. A great resource for the world. Useful has been things like "US Land Vehicles":http://fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/index.html. * Strategy Page. Haven't used this much till now, but Dean Esmay says it is great. Particular useful is the "ORBAT":http://www.strategypage.com/iraqwar/map.asp (order of battle) in Iraq. It's run by a guy named Dunnigan who has written quite a bit about warfare. Has a nice military "map":http://www.strategypage.com/iraqwar/map.asp#map there as well. * "Orbat":http://orbat.com. An entire site dedicated just to order of battle and also table of organization and equipment (TO&E). Much is subscription, but a bunch is not. Also google appears to cache some interesting stuff as well. * "Global Security Iraq War":http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/iraq.htm. A focus at Global security. Checkout their orbat section.

Welcome to the Project for the New American Century. To me a frightening name for a project. Apparently, this is where the intellectual "muscle" and theory is for the Bush administration. Interesting if a little terrifying to read. They have it all figured out though. Good someone does.

Free-Return: Why Free-Return?. Bill Malloy is an amazing guy. Just started a blog for him. I'm sure he'll say some interesting and irreverent things. Here's his inaugural post. I've only known him for a year or so, but it seems like a lifetime of stories already.

Amazing. This is a blogger in Baghdad. Don't think it is BS. A very interesting read... Where is Raed ?

More indepth look at the decision on getting the right over-the-air set-top-box. Here are relevant links: * Home Theater SPOT!. This is the debate about the Promise module for the Mitsubishi. It has an OTA tuner built-in, but costs $1K. Main advantage is the Firewire-5C for connecting with all digital copy protected settop boxes. * "Digital Inputs Firewire-5C vs. DVD-HDCP":http://www.hometheaterspot.com/htsthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB10&Number=374544&page=5&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1. There is much debate about which input is going to become standard. Relevant since Promise only has one sort. Says that the "Samsung T165":http://www.bestphotovideo.com/store/samsung_SIR-T165.html and the upcoming new "JVC DishPVR 921":http://www.cnet.com/investor/news/newsitem/0-9900-1028-20787330-0.html will have both outputs and will be available later in 2003. * "Seattle Cable HDTV":http://hdtvpub.com/local/viewReports.cfm/zipcode_98112/dma_819/city_Seattle/cableco_4/. Must be the most underpublicized program in history. AT&T has had HD Cable for SHO and HBO for a year and no one talks about it. Other good sites for over-the-air work: * "AntennaWeb":www.antennaweb.org. A great site that will tell you where the high definition TV signals are. * "Titan TV":http://www.titantv.com/ttv/home/HDTVUpdate.aspx. A great list of current HDTV programs on the air right now.

Can't quite believe that we are on eve of this war. Still glued to news.google.com. Lots of new on the internet of course. Most interesting things: * "Clare Short on Channel 4":http://www.channel4.com/news/2003/03/week_3/18_goodman.html. Amazing turnabout. * "Tony Blair at House of Commons":http://politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/0,12956,916790,00.html. Wow, is it me, or do the British politicians sound so much smarter. I thought it was great the way she asked, what would I do if I was Tony Blair. * "Large scale Anthrax Attack Analysis":http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa003&articleID=000C22EA-4A06-1E76-A98A809EC5880105. For the record, Iraq is thought to have 10,000 litres of antrax. A report in the Scientific American shows that 1 litres of antrax in city would kill between 123,000 people. Uh. Food for though. * "Bill Clinton on Tony Blair":http://politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/comment/0,12956,916302,00.html. Lucid explanation from Clinton on what happened. Surprisingly sober IMHO. * "Washington Post-ABC News Poll":http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/polls/vault/stories/data031803.htm. Amazing to me to see the US population support levels. Astounding really. 64% approval for George Bush's handling of Iraq. 75% disapproval of UN handling of Iraq. 71% support US war with Iraq. 72% think US has done enough to win support from other countries. I'd love to see the regional breakouts on these statistics. Doesn't represent Seattle I bet. Also "John Zagula":http://zagula.com points out that this is common at the start of a war. LBJ had an incredible approval rating the first two years of his administration. * "Latest UK Poll":http://politics.guardian.co.uk/polls/story/0,11030,916494,00.html. Interesting to see the same phenomena in the UK. Finally, the world's best blogs are at "Washington Post Embedded Correspondents":http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/nation/nationalsecurity/abroad/iraq/field/. These are the folks who are with units in the Middle East. Interesting snail-eye-view of things.

At least, I'm getting a few cycles in when not reading Google News. In any event, my mom and dad are moving into a new house and good ol'dad wants a great television setup. Here's an update about this the latest to buy given it change so quickly h4. For Dad's new Home Theater For rear-projection TVs. There are many other sorts, but for my dad, this is probably the lowest cost way to go in his relatively small room. Here are the current choices after a search through "HomeTheaterSpot":http://hometheaterspot.com run by my buddy Paul Carleton as well as "The Perfect Vision Picks and Pans":http://www.avguide.com/inthenews/currentnews/2.17.2003/picksandpans2003.jsp as well as "HDTV Voice":http://www.hdtvoice.com/voice/index.php " "AVS Forum":http://www.avsforum.com/ and "HDTV Forum":http://pub1.ezboard.com/bdigitaltelevisionhdtvforum plus "DBS Talk":http://www.dbstalk.com/index.php: * "Pioneer SD533HD5":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=585816/blsrt=1/ut=0ce41693b950d0f3. About $2,200 delivered. Has the same innards as the amazing Elite versions. Main issue is that it doesn't have DVI so high resolution cable or satellite could be a problem later. Important for the future. Also doesn't have any HDTV tuners. * "Toshiba 50HDX82":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=617910/blsrt=1/. This has DVI and also an amazing line doubler for ordinary input. That is regular cable TV and satellite TV. Cheap too by $200 compared with the Pioneer. * "Pioneer Elite PRO520HD":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=552586/. If you can afford it, this is probably the best set out there with 7" CRTs. Connie's Dad has one and its line doubler is amazing. Nearly $3500 though. * "Toshiba 57HLX82 LCoS RPTV":http://www.avguide.com/newsletter/2002.12/toshiba57.jsp. The future is in this new technology called liquid crystal on silicon. Here's an early preview of it in a rear projection form at a not cheap $8K, but what technology. "OneCall":http://www.onecall.com/PID_17557.htm has them but only for retail sale right now. * "RCA Scenium L50000":http://www.costco.com/frameset.asp?trg=subcat%2Easp&catid=79&subid=2341. Reliability is the big question with this rig, but for $3.5K from Costco, you get an LCos with built-in high definition satellite and over-the-air tuner * "HDTV Copy Protection":http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=1620871#post1620871. See this post for why it's important to get an HDTV with the right copy protection. Depressing really. We'll use the existing Outlaw 1050 AVR and Energy Take 5 speakers I think so the only other things needed are: * "OTA HDTV":http://www.hometheatermag.com/showarchives.cgi?156. A good overview of getting high definition with a good ol'antenna. My dad can do this at his new home. * "Dish HD Channels":http://www.dishnetwork.com/content/programming/hdtv/index.shtml. This requires a "Dish 6000u":http://www.dishnetwork.com/content/technology/receivers/6000/index.shtml at $700 list for a complete system. The terrestial OTA adapter if $149 list. * "Dish Upcoming HD STBs":http://www.dbstalk.com/attachment.php?postid=70052. A view of the upcoming STBs they have. They all have this new encrypted digital interface. * "DirecTV HD":http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/imagine/HDTV.jsp. Set-top box for HD-SAT and of course dishes. Main issue is that they don't have Discovery HD. They have many more models that are compatible including Hughes Network Systems HIRD-E86, Mitsubishi SR-HD5, Panasonic TU-HDS20, Philips DSHD 800 R, RCA DTC100, Sony SAT HD100, Toshiba DST-3000, Zenith DTV1080. There are also updated models. Sony has the HD200. Main issue is what about digital outputs for TVs. * "DirecTV Tivo HDTV":http://www.tivo.com/5.3.1.1.asp?article=166. One of the more exciting announcements. Sometime this year, one box that has it all. Tivo, HDTV for both satellite and over-the-air. Wow! It will have component outputs, DVI-HDCP digital outputs. h4. For the New Play Room. I've got a new play room that needs: * MP3/CD Player. Ideally I need something that plays CDs, MP3 CDs and also can browse my MP3 files on my PC server. Need to study this. * AVR Receivers. I'm going to use the one in the living room and move the other stuff into the familiy room where I think it will get more use. So, my old Yamaha 3090 AVR goes to the playroom. Family Room. This just has an old Sony 32XBR100 (a great TV though), so it needs an AVR and speakers. This last should be my old Yamaha 3090 given its power rating, so I'm in the market for a low cost receiver to be deployed in the family room. So, here's a quick review based on "Home Cinema Online":http://www.homecinemachoice.com/testbench/index.html. and also looking at "AudioReview":http://audioreview.com * Denon AVR-2803. This was just released. The older Denon 2800, 2801 and 2802 got good reviews consistently. About $600 street. * Outlaw 1050. I got this for dad and it is a nice deal for $500 at least a year ago. Hasn't been updated since however, so doesn't have all the latest modes. h4. Main Home Theater Upgrades. Since I also do a troll to see what's up for my current setup (an old Mitsubishi 73905). Here's what's up with that in terms of upgrades. BTW, this is a nice set that is 73" diagonal with 9" CRTs. Very bright. * Faroudja NRS Scaler. Costs $3K, but it is the best for my old Mitsubishi since it scales to 540p. * "Mitsubishi Promise Module":http://www.mitsubishi-tv.com/promisemodule_news.html. This has been promised for three years (no pun intended) as an upgrade. For $1K, you get an OTA HD tuner, a cable HD tuner (not clear when we get HD cable in Seattle. sigh.), an IEEE 1394 firewire connector for camcorders and the like, a HAVI command and control system. Since I can't get over the air HDTV here (a big hill in the way), the most useful thing would be cable HD if it ever comes. * "Onkyo TX-DS989 Upgrade":http://pub106.ezboard.com/faussiedvdandhtforumonkyotxds989informationforum?page=1. I'm sad I didn't hear about this last year. It was $300 at introduction and is now $500. Was a fair deal at $300 as it fixes bugs in the Dolby Digital EX processing, adds 96/24 DTS (so for the right DVDs, you get super high quality sound) and is THX Ultra2 certified (not quite sure what that really means). At this price though, I'm not sure it is worth it. Main thing to wait for is a direct digital Firewire connection from a CD/DVD Player so that it is all high-bit-rate digital all the way through. Cool. * "Definitive Technology Surrounds":http://www.definitivetech.com/loudspeakers/surround/surround.html. I need another set of surrounds to get to 7.1 sound. The value leader looks like the BP1.2X at $175SRP or the BP2X at $250 SRP. The BP2X got good reviews in "Home Theater Magazine":http://www.hometheatermag.com/showarchives.cgi?46:2.

The internet is an amazing place. I somehow got a hit from someone in the US Air Force who is shipping out soon. His Washington license is expired and he asked me of all folks what to do. Nice to be a geek and help someone who is really in the nation's service. BTW, if you are interested DOL - Military Designated Driver Licenses tells all about what to do. It's quite a good program except that you actually have to be in the State of Washington to get this military license and by definition most folks are not. OTOH, I just read the "statute":http://www.leg.wa.gov/RCW/index.cfm?fuseaction=section§ion=46.20.027 and it doesn't say that you have to apply. Just says that the license is valid as long as you are in the service. Go figure.

American vs. European Compairson If you ignore the tone of the piece and just look at the statistics, they sure are interesting. Birthrate differences, productivity, spending difference between the USA and the EU are pretty striking. Here's a Harpers Index view of the article where he makes four points:

How depressing. Can you believe that someone has written a program to do this. I'm getting consistent spam comments now. Too bad. Another thing spoiled by spam.

I curse "Google News":news.google.com a thousand times. It updates itself every 5 minutes or so with the top stories from around the world. This is going to become a pro- vs. anti-debate for me, its just about getting all the facts about what is happening. I'll look for things that you wouldn't ordinarily see. For instance, An Arab House, Openly Divided (washingtonpost.com). talks about the many fractures in the Arab world towards Iraq. "Latest Polls show Brits back war if UN Resolution Passes":http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0600uk/page.cfm?objectid=12716422&method=full&siteid=50082. Surprised me. I had though most brits absolutely opposed it. Help, it's after midnight and I'm still reading news. Can't get enough of the stuff.

Chicken à la Iraq. Thomas Friedman is so brilliant and depressing at the same time. I've become a total news junkie. Will be interesting to see what happens.

This reminds me of the joke about the man who gets lost and asks a cop for directions, and the first thing the cop says is, "Well, you wouldn't start from here." No, I wouldn't have — but here is where we've been put. So those who argue against the war have to admit that doing nothing now would mean perpetuating Saddam's tyranny and giving succor to all dictators. And those, like myself, who have argued that removing Saddam is the right thing to do have to admit that the risks of doing so are rising so high, and the number of allies we have for the long haul becoming so few, that it may be impossible to do it right.

An update from early February, now includes a review of 35mm film scanners. Just in from PMA 2003 is an announcement for a flat bed scanner, the Canon 9900F that has the resolution of a film scanner (2800 dpi) and anti-dust software. Could be a good compromise between a film and a flat bed. Will have to wait on reviews

Well, the el cheapo scanner I got has finally died of driver incompatibility. It is a Visioneer One Touch that doesn't have XP drivers and the W2K drivers don't work at all. They hang. So, I'm in the market for another scanner. We don't use it very much but sometimes the kids like to scan things in. Also, I have a suspicion that if I ever get the Nikon N80 that I've been lusting after that I'll want to scan in 35 mm negatives. Why not get a digital camera you say? Well, mainly because the technology is just moving too fast. In two years feels about right. In any case, the scanner market has settled down judging by reading:

• ZD Net Scanner Super Center
• PC Magazine Scanner Section
• C|Net Scanner REviews. BTW, these two review sources appear to be identical so I would guess ZDNet is buying from CNet or maybe ZDNet is owned by CNet now?

Here is what I've learned:

• Epson Perfection 2450. This is the winner for both of these review sets. Very good color and it can scan in 35 mm negatives. Big issue is that today it costs over $400. Quality costs. Cnet users seem to rave about it. As of PMA 2003 on March 3, this unit got replaced by a new one.
• HP 5500. Got a great review in both CNet and PC Magazine. About $200 with a rebate right now. It's a new updated model. The 5450 got tepid CNet user reviews

Film Scanners

Reality is that we really don't use a scanner much. Not till the kids get older. What would be very cool is a way to scan in all those 35mm photos we have around. This is pretty expensive, but the resolution is incredible. Here's what I've learned from:

• Steve's Digicam Review summary. A summary of major reviews.
• Popular Photo in an old piece that recommends the Nikon scanning family with digital ICE processing
• Tony Sleep. These are older scanners from Europe. Basically, didn't think the HP had good color rendition. The Minolta was OK. He loves the older Nikon Coolscan III.
• Imaging Resources. Unlike the reviewers above, they really like the HP, thought the Minolta was a price breakthrough and the Nikon with Digital ICE to remove dust was fantastic.
• Steve Hoffman. Some good reviews here. Not surprising, he loves the top of the line Nikon Coolscan 4000 with Digital Ice and the HP comes out OK.
• Image Acquire. Main points are they love the Coolscan 4000 and you have to be careful of dust with the HP. Have a good explanation for why folks use film scanners. To summarize: a) film has wider dynamic range than prints, b) they handle film automatically, and c) there is less dust than a flat bed.
• Norman Koren. Compares the Canoscan 4000 with others. Comes out pretty well. Particularly price-wise vs. the Nikon Coolscan 4000.

The conclusion is that there are three buckets

1. Nikon Coolscan IV ED. For prosumers with a street price of about $700 less a $100 rebate. It has its own dust removal and the same great lenses as the professional 4000. This has digital ICE which is supposed to be better than what Canon has and at the same price. However, it is only dynamic range of 3.6, 2900 dpi and 12-bit color vs. 4.2, 4000 dpi and 14-bit color for the Canon. I suspect that these don't matter that much, so it depends on how dirty your film is.
2. Canon FS-4000 Scanner. Has it's own IR-based dust removal, but less effective but less expensive than digital ICE. It has better spec's, but worst dust removal and speed at the same price.
3. Minolta Dimage dual scan iii. It is right in the middle with incredible specs, but not as good dust removal and a low price. It has a digital dust removal that is software based, but doesn't use IR. OTOH, it has incredible specifications with USB 2.0, 2800 dpi resolution, dynamic range of 4.8, 16 bit color. Street is only the $300 range
4. HP Photosmart s20. It is for budget consumer uses. It scans prints as well. But it doesn't have any scratch stuff builtin so your negatives have to be clean. Street is in the $200 range. This one might be the best for me since we don't have many of the negatives from old prints. OTOH, print scanning just needs 400 dpi in most cases so is in the realm of a flat bed I'd need anyway for the kids.

Sheldon Brown on Tandems and Kids. Hmmm. Sheldon has a good idea here. Get a tandem and we can all ride together and not worry so much about them getting hit by a car. Will have to look into this. "Trailer Bike":http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/trailrcy.html. An alternative is a Trailer bike that attaches to an existing bike. Not too expensive and works up to 85 pounds too. Maybe I'll try one from some friends.

Chain Maintenance. Just replaced my chain. First time I've ever worn one out. I should have checked earlier. I had thought the grinding was due to a loose bottom bracket, but in retrospect, it was probably the chain. That's not mentioned in diagnostic manuals I have. So something for people to watch out for. If you feel like there is a slip and a rumble, it might be the bottom bracket, but it might be the chain. Particularly if it has been 1-2,000 miles since you changed it. It was very worn out and this article talks all about it. I sure hope I didn't ruin my cassette. That is expensive.

Bicycle Tires Trials. Back in November, I wore out my Continental GP3000s. Since then, I've tried a bunch of different tires. Here's the scoop at least for me: * "Sdeals":http://sdeals.com. They have the absolute best prices on tires I've seen. * "Continental GP 3000":http://www.conti-online.com/generator/www/de/en/continental/bicycle/themes/tires/race/grand_prix_3000/grand_prix_3000_en.html. These I actually wore out after 2,000 miles. At least the rear tire. Folks say they are fast wearing. At 210 grams, they are fine tires and very durable. * "Veloflex Pave":http://www.veloflextires.com/. These are made in the original Vittoria factory in Italy. Only 180 grams, but after 200 miles, I blew them out. Hit some glass. They are incredibly light and in the rain, it is very exciting. I wonder what the Master (170 grams), Corsa (160 grams) and the Record (130 grams) would be like. They were amazingly fast after using the Conti's for a year, but tricky in turns. They are 20mm tires, not 22mm, which is part of the reason they are so light. * "Vittoria Open Corsa TT":http://www.vittoria.com/catalogo_2002_vittoria_geax/product_index_frame.htm. These lasted about 100 miles. Glass and road junk blew through the casing. I think I was looking for it more, so it wasn't as severe as the Veloflex, but depressing. Very fast though and less squirrelly in turns than the Veloflex. * "Michelin Axial Pro":http://cycleus.webmichelin.com/tires/axialpro.htm. The other standard in tires, is this 230 gram version. Just started using it. It has a much heavier tread than the Veloflex or the Vittoria, but after having tires that were pumped up to 120 psi and 130 psi respectively, it felt flexy and slow. Oh well, I guess there is a tradeoff between weight and durability. The conclusion is I'm going to try another set of Veloflex and see how they last through the training up to the STP. Unfortunately, Sdeals.com is down through April, so this will give me some time to really test the Axial Pro's. There is a new tire, the Axial Pro Light at 190 grams, so I'll have to give that one a try too.

PhotographyBLOG -:- Home. Had to happen. Here's a photography oriented blog. Surprised there aren't more of them.

Halogens PAR30. We have way too many light bulbs in our house and end up paying full retail when we need them. The $10 PAR30's finally cracked me. So, a quick google search and here are some online places like bulbco.com that has them for $6. Good to know for all the many light bulbs a modern house seems to have.

I'm getting a Linux server up for a new project over at Ignition. It remains amazing to me how hard integration is with the Windows world. Here are some notes on getting it running that I hope help others: * "Samba and file shares":http://justlinux.com/nhf/Filesystems/Connecting_to_SMB_Shares_from_Linux.html. The documentation for Samba is not very clear. Here is one man's view on how to get this running. Before I had this I could get to the point where I could browse Windows file shares, but authentication didn't work. The magic is note in the extended entry. The real trick is a unbhc of mount parameters. * Apache. First you have to get this installed. It doesn't by default. Ignore the apache documentation, it doesn't apply to Red Hat precisely even though the Red Hat help and site point to it. What you need to do is to choose Red Hat/System Settings/Packages. Navigate down to the Web services section and click on Apache. This installs it with the default directory of /var/www/html as the web site. You the go to Red Hat/Systems Tools/Red Hat Network to download all the updates that need to get applied. However, it doesn't actually run apache as a service by default as you would expect. You have to edit /etc/rc.local and add "apachectl start" * Mysql. Yuck, the documentation and how it works with Red Hat are out of sync, so you can install Mysql by running Red Hat/System Settings/Packages and navigating to the database section and then choose Mysql. However, this doesn't actually start Mysql by default. You have to choose Red Hat/Server Settings/Services, scroll down the list to find mysql and click on start and check it so it starts automatically.

Nothing like becoming an instant expert. Gary told us about PMA, the big industry trade show. Thanks to the Internet, it's easy to find out what was announced. Here are some sites to check out: * Digital Photography Review. Has a good list of products. Check the reviews of the Adobe "Album":http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/adobephotoshopalbum/ and the very cool Nikon "Coolpix SQ":http://www.dpreview.com/news/0302/03021804nikoncpsq.asp. To me this shows how cameras are becoming lifestyle things as does the Minolta "DiMAGE":http://www.dpreview.com/news/0303/03030105minoltadimagext.asp. * "Steve's Digicam":http://www.steves-digicams.com/pma2003_index.html. Has similar points and also a photo a Sandisk's 1GB Flash "Card":http://www.steves-digicams.com/pr/sandisk_03032003_ultra_pr.html. I want one! * "A-Digital-Eye Top 20":http://www.a-digital-eye.com/#pmatop20. This is their top 20 products list. Each is worth a look. * "Imaging Resources":http://www.imaging-resource.com/EVENTS/PMAS03/PMAS03.HTML. Same list of stuff but this points directly to the press releases.

Now that Connie's trip to Senegal went off so well, I thought it was a good time to look at our long distance carrier. We've been an AT&T customer forever mainly because I've been scared about call quality, but playing with these 1010 services has really changed my mind. Everest for instance has been good as has Cognicall. Although I would say 1016868 is cheap but didn't work well. In any case, we pay $0.05 weekends and $0.09 weekdays for interstate and $3/month for international just to make sure my parents don't dial incorrectly as happened last year when we didn't have a plan. Here are some sites to study that have no minimum monthlies: * Bettertelephonerates.com. This site seems to show that things can get much better. They have a nice rate calculator that shows the bill drops to $5.37 per month for in-state and interstate. Wow. Don't know about the quality of these things though, will keep looking for that. The calculator is great, but they don't tell you how good the service is. * "Telcompare":http://www.telcompare.com/. Here's a site that reviews various carriers. Don't know if they are legitimate though, they are high in google ranking. They conclude for long distance that the leading carriers are: # "Capsule":http://www.telcompare.com/long-distance-rates-capsule.html. A real $0.039 rate and a pretty good network. # "Cogniphone":http://www.telcompare.com/long-distance-rates-cogniphone.html. I used this for dial-around service from Canada and it worked super well. The quality was pretty good. Only concern is that this is a penny stock on the Nasdaq, so who knows how long it will be around. Best thing is the intrastate rates in Washington are phenomenal. $0.039 vs. $0.10 that the others charge. I have their $0.069 calling card and also use their similarly inexpensive dial-around service now and the quality is good. # "Accxx":http://www.telcompare.com/long-distance-rates-accxx.html. The quality leader, so naturally, their rates are higher. $0.049 as if you care and $0.11 intrastate in Washington. I might get this one, just because of quality, since Connie would be pretty mad if suddently the long distance stuff stopped working.

Now that I've figured out what camera and lense to get, there are all those other accessories. Good thing the internet is filled with folks reviewing the stuff. Here's a quick list: h4. Flashes An additional thing, but I expect to be doing quite a bit of shooting indoor even though I'll be using ISO 800 film and a f/1.4 lenses, it still means flashes are needed. Hard to find good reviews of these things. But here are some: * "Camera Hobby":http://www.camerahobby.com/Access-Flashes.htm. Says basically that the Nikon SB-28 and SB-27 are nice, but they have broken at alot for him. * "Photography Review":http://www.photographyreview.com/Flashes/Nikon,SB-50DX,AF,Speedlight/PRD_85203_3121crx.aspx. Usually photography review doesn't have much information in it, but this is an exception. Main note is the SB-80DX is top of the line, but costs as much as the N80/F80 itself. The SB-50DX is less expensive at $160-$25 rebate and a good match, but doesn't tilt and it isn't very bright (low guide number), so it is hard to do bounce flashes for indoor lighting. * "Thom Hogan":http://www.bythom.com/nikon.htm. Has good overview that says the SB-50 is nice for the N80 camera, but SB-80 is the best overall. h4. Filters, Bags and other items So there are all those miscellaneous items. Fortunately, camerahobby.com has some great reviews on: * "Filters":http://www.camerahobby.com/Access-Filters.htm. Says get the B+W filters for quality. * "Bags":http://www.camerahobby.com/Access-CameraBags.htm. A good set of reviews. He's tried pretty much the entire Lowe line of bags. Seems like the best ones are the little backpacks like the Lowepro Orion or the Orion AW. The last is expensive at $130, but it is both a fanny pack, a backpack and is water proof (AW=all weather). h4. Additional lenses test Nothing here that changes the POV about good 50mm lenses, but more technical data is interesting: * "David Nicke's Compendium":http://www.cs.kau.se/~nicke/private/photo/lenstest/. A great compendium of lens test. * "David Ruether":http://www.ferrario.com/ruether/slemn.html. Subjective evaluation that is a useful guide. Likes the f/1.8 very much. Says that most of the 50mm are great by f/2. * "Photodo":http://www.photodo.com/nav/prodindex.html. This is a resolution test called MTF which measures how well a lenses handles resolution. As the frequency of light and dark goes up, how well can the lens reproduce it. A geek dream to stare at these charts. Basically a perfect lense is flat all the way across the line. Shows the "Nikkor AF 50/1.8":http://www.photodo.com/prod/lens/detail/NiAF50_18-444.shtml is one of the best lenses and the "AF50/1.4":http://www.photodo.com/prod/lens/detail/NiAF50_14D-443.shtml is still good but doesn't work well at its lowest aperature. Also essentially says the cheap consumer telephotos are terrible. Only when you get the gigantic and expensive "Nikkor AF-S 80-200/2,8 IF-ED":http://www.photodo.com/prod/lens/detail/NiAF-S80-200_28IF-E-473.shtml is the quality great. * "Bjorn Rorslett":http://www.naturfotograf.com/bestof.html. Says MTF isn't everything so these are subjective evaluations. He love the F/1.8 and the F/1.4 very much and the very expensive professional F/2.8 zoom lenses for the pros including the AFS 70-200 mm f/2.8 G VR ED-IF as state of the art. * "Nikon's Decoder Ring":http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bh1.sph/FrameWork.class?FNC=GetPage__Aindex_html___page=Product_Resources/nomenclature.html___SID=F3E88C4C150. Nikon has the strangest naming conventions for its lenses. B&H explains what is going on well. Basically in order, AF AIS were the first autofocus lenses, AF D are the current generation and AF S have silent motors in them and AF VR have vibration reduction. "Don't":http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bh1.sph/FrameWork.class?FNC=GetPage__Aindex_html___page=Product_Resources/bodylens.html___SID=F3E88C4C150 get MF, AI, AIS or E as these aren't autofocusing and the N80/F80 doesn't meter them.