February 2005 Archives

StumbleUpon Reviews

StumbleUpon is backed by a community of members who explore and review sites they like. These reviews help everyone discover the best sites and meet like-minded people. Ming and I were recently talking about how personalization is the key next theme for the web. Here's an example of a "community" browser, you wander around the Internet and sites that you like, you say thumbs up and others can wander and look at it too.

Kind of like Tivo for the web.

X-bit labs - Articles - High-End CPU Coolers Roundup: The Battle for Silence and Efficiency (page 16). I normally recommend the Thermal Right XP-120 which has a massive 5 inch fan, but they got good results with a smaller cheaper (e.g., less than $50) Cooler Master model.

The best cooler among the models we tested today based on performance and silence criteria is CoolerMaster Hyper 48 KHC-L91. It is not only utterly silent, but thanks to advanced design and heatpipes can cool-down even the hottest chips very efficiently. Furthermore, the KHC-L91 also boasts with easy installation.

[VR-Zone Hardware] - Pentium Announcements

The Pentium 4 600 series, and the Pentium 4 3.73EE was announced today. Along with their support for EM64T, Intel's 64-bit extensions, these new CPU's also include SpeedStep power saving technology, upgraded security features through Executable Disabled Bit, 2MB of L2 cache. The 660 runs at 3.6GHz, 640 at 3.4GHz and 630 at 3.0GHz.

Intel is gearing up for the launch of their first dual-core Smithfield processors in the second quarter with three models in place; 2.8, 3.0 and 3.2Ghz. They will be available at US$241, US$316 and US$530 with model numbers 820, 830 and 840, respectively. The Extreme Edition of Smithfield will include Hyper-Threading Technology providing the ability to process four software threads simultaneously and probably a faster 1066Mhz FSB while the mainstream version of dual core Smithfield will have 800Mhz FSB but without HT. Two new chipsets, the 955X Express codenamed Glenwood and 945G/P Express codenamed Lakeport will be available when the new chips arrive.

The performance reviews show that they are roughly comparable to the AMD Athlon 64 4000+, so it looks like Intel is catching up. It will be interesting to see how Smithfield does. It is coming out very soon. The cores continue to run very hot, but at least going from 1MB to 2MB L2 cache didn't cause even more power consumption.

AOpen prepares Cube Mini Pentium M based SFF PC

On the heels of launching the EY855-II XC Cube, its first Intel Pentium M-based small-form-factor (SFF) PC, AOpen is now preparing for the March launch of its smallest XC Cube SFF PC to date, the MZ 855, according to sources at the company.

The Intel 855GME-based system, which the company has dubbed the Cube Mini, will only be 106mm tall and will support Socket 479 Pentium M processors, a 400MHz FSB and up to 2GB of DDR333 memory. Although running a notebook CPU, the MZ 855 will still support desktop hard drives, and features two front-panel USB ports.

Ok King Young makes some super small form factors machines that both Logic Supply and Cappucinopc resell. Here are the choices:

• S615. This is a fanless 6×10x3" case that has a downclocked Celeron running at 1.33Ghz, so it should be as fast as an Eden, but is slightly bigger than mini-ITX. $495 from Logic Supply with just the processor, so memory, hard disk, optical are extra.
• S625F. This is also fanless but uses the very expensive Dothan Centrino M or Pentium M chips at 6×10x2". It is $643 from cappucino with a Celeron M 1.3GHz and 128MB memory.
• S620. This has a fan, so is not completely noiseless, but it is super small. $289 barebones from cappucino or $325 from logic supply. It can use any socket 478 processor and is 6×10x3 uses the Intel 865GV chipset. This isn't such a bad option for me just because I've got two spare 478s around, plus memory around from a blown Shuttle.

Net, net, there are two fanless options and one small PC equivalent.

Griffin Technology. These guys at Griffin are just amazing. This is a iPod to cassette interface that is smart. Just $25 and available in 2Q05, if you fast forware, the ipod fast forwards. If you skip, then the cassette senses it and skips too. Very cool.

I need this because our Volvo and MDX FM antennas don't work with the iTrip.

SmartDeck

Here's another fanless case that can use the Via Epia system. As I said before, if you can, wait for the upcoming new motherboard, the SP if you can. Should start arrving in early April.

Scythe's e-Otonashi fanless EPIA-M cooling case :: SilentPCReview.com. This is a a do it yourself kit that uses a heatpipe. Incredibly quiet particularly with a Fujitsu 2.5" drive. Apparently, these drives are really quiet. Just 21dBA at 1 meter away. Also reasonable price at $198 for the case. You can build a nice system for $600.

You can get it from Scythe or from the Mini-ITX Store or Directron

OK here's a technical solution to needing more horsepower to do MPEG4 decoding with VIA. First they have a super small form factor EPIA N coming in April. This will be a super small system, but with an updated memory interface.

They are also doing a mini-ITX version too using a board called the EPIA SP. This is tuned not just for MPEG2, but also MPEG4 and it supports faster memory running at DDR400 rather than DDR266 plus a 1.33GHz processor.

Both are something to wait for. Hexus has a review of the upcoming Tranquil T2 based on the new board as well as the the older MII based system running windows media center 2005 called the T2.e.

The Tranquil by the way like the Hush is fanless.

Kind of a fun month for PC recommendations because for once the underlying hardware is quiet. No big announcements of processors, video cards or motherboards, so instead of high, medium and low, let's focus on some "odd" machines that might be fun to have. Think of them as alternative PCs. Sort of like taking a break and driving a Prius or a Hummer around:

Compact Performance PC

Shuttle's XPC SN25P mini-barebones system. I haven't recommended a Shuttle in a while because they have been underpowered in the power supply and overnoisy. The SN25P changes a lot of that. It is still loud at 45dBa (you can build a bigger system running at whisper quiet 25dBa right now), but it is compact. It is a hairs breadth away from being the fastest PC ever (that honor would go to a DFI LanParty Nf4 Ultra system). Here's what I would get given the new Shuttle has 350 watt power supply and much more room inside:

All of this in a nice small form factor, if you want the same performance but whisper quiet, you'll have to go to an Ever Case 4252 case ($50), XP-120 fancooler ($50), Seasonic Silencer 400 ($100) power supply and DFI LanParty Nf4 Ultra motherboard ($140) to replace the Shuttle but it will be very quiet for a few bucks less than the Shuttle.

Compact Silent PC

OK, here I would get something that is completely noiseless. I haven't tried the unit yet, but a good recommendation would come from Logic Supply. Here are some small PCs that are just fine for running Office or watching a DVD:

Sumicom S615. This is a Celeron 2GHz running at 1.33GHz. It is just 6"×10"×2" in size. Comes with just about everything and uses a very quiet 2.5" notebook drive. They come custom from Logic Supply, but a 256MB, 40GB drive with CD-RW/DVD is $781 plus shipping. This should run office well, although I don't know about Divx decoding. DVDs should be fine.

It is not as small as a Mac Mini (6"×4"x6"), but pretty darn close.

Small but noiser and faster PC

If you want something that is small but has a fan and some power

Dell Optiplex SX280 is not a bad choice. It is ultra small at $934 would give you a 2.8GHz Pentium, 512MB DDR2 PC1066 memory, 80GB, DVD/CDRW. With the Prescott in there I'm sure it runs hot, but it is only 10"×10"×4"

Logic Supply gives you a similar Sumicom S620 with Pentium 4 2.8GHz, 512MB PC3200 DDR Ram, 160GB 7200 drive, CDRW/DVD for $870. It is mainly much narrow at 6"×10"×3"

Ultra small and quiet

If you are willing to sacrifice all for small and silent, then there is the

Mac Mini. Just 4"×6"x4" and super cute and hard to beat at $500, althought $600 would give you 80GB of disk.

If you want a PC-based system, then you can get a Epia M board now, but I'd wait until April when the Epia SP ships. This is much faster and supports MPEG4 decoding.

When you get it, you can fit it into one of two systems:

• Logic Supply C134. This is the PC equivalent running the VIA Epic chipset. Fanless if you are not doing Divx and xvid decoding, it is just $510 with a 600Mhz ME6000, 256MB PC2100 memory, 2.5" 30GB disk, CDRW/DVD drive and is 7"×10"×2". You can also get one with a 25dBa fan with 1GHz which can run Divx and xvid decoding at full speed. These prices are assembled.
• C134 do-it-yourself. Alternatively if you want to go totally do-it-yourself, you can buy the C134 case ($144) and Via motherboard ($160) from Logic Supply and then go out into the merchant market for the rest of the components. For instance low profile DDR RAM, slim CD/DVD and 2.5" 60GB hard drives are available from Newegg.com. You can put together at ME10000, Valuemax 512MB memory, LG 10×24×24 CDRW/DVD and Fujitsu 60GB hard disk for about $550. This should be a very fast system for Office/Multimedia decoding.
• e-Otonashi. This is a little bit bigger, but completely fanless even with a 1.2GHz M or 1.33Ghz SP board because it uses a special heatsink.

X-bit labs - Articles - BenQ DW1620A DVD±RW/R Drive Review: Joker in the Pack or a New Winner?. I just happen to have one of these drives. It does pretty well, but you have to get the B7T9 firmware update to solve lots of the bad DVD burning problems.

Naturally, you can't just go to Benq.us to get them, they appear to only have the older B7K9 update on the USA site, so you have to go to the completely separate support.benq.com site to get the latest updates, this is the global site and I'm guessing maintained by a different group. Arrgh.

Here the latest at the 1620 subsite is B7U9 dated 22-Feb-2005, so even later than the B7T9 version mentioned in the review.

Here are what the various updates do:

• B7P9. 09-Nov-2004. This one adds 4x writing for DVD+R DL so it is a big deal. Was a major update.
• B7T9. 23-Dec-2004. This fixes writing errors and speed for DVD+R and DVD-R. Was a major update.
• B7U9. 22-Feb-2005. This improves WOPC (what ever that is)

For some reason, it was just about impossible to find the manuals and drivers for the Samsung 193P in their download area.

Here is their manual and also their Magictune software. You need this since the machine has no hardware controls at all. Everything is done in software.

Their Magictune is on a throwaway CD which I lost. Very hard to find and it is not in the product section, but right off the main monitor homepage

I'm just about to buy a mini ITX machine to do DVD playback and other small games and things for Grace. An interesting test to see how a small form factor machine does.

mini-itx.com - nehemiah m10000 review. The benchmark shows that with 256MB of PC2100 RAM and Windows XP, it does DVD playback just fine, but if you are doing Divx or Xvid with AC3 playback, then you'll prbably have to go to a 1GHz EPIA M10000, the fanless EPIA ME6000 is just not fast enough. That's too bad, but good data. The main thing is to get a later generation Nehemiah M10000 which has a full floating point unit. The tradeoff is that a fan generates about 25dBA of noise so a little above a whisper level of about 20dBA in an average room at 1 meter away.

Tech Report shows similar data and actually decent performance with Microsoft Office, comparable to a Pentium III 900MHz machine.

Envynews did a test showing that the 1GHz Nehemiah is bout 2-5x slower than an Athlon XP 1900+ in CPU intensive benchmarks like MP3 encoding (something you shouldn't do with it anyway).

Here is what I ended up getting is either the Logic Supply kit that is $543 or a roll your own component set.

All this playing of Combat Flight Simulator reminded me how much I loved Harpoon and F-15 Strike Eagle before the kids arrived. Here's an update to what's going on. The short news is that there isn't as much action now, but there are still some interesting new titles that are modern jet, helicopter and submarine simulations.

The sad news is that helicopters simulations are dead. For flight simulation junkies, Frugalsworld.com appears to be where they are hanging out as well as at combat360.com

• Dangerous Waters. This is a modern submarine simulation that is supposed to be very accurate. Harpoon lives!
• Falcon 4.0. If you can believe it folks are still modding a game that was shipped in 1999. I remember Falcon 3.0, played it for hours and then 4.0 was terribly buggy, but a dedicated group has been hacking away to keep it going. Not even clear how you get a new copy. Atari doesn't even sell it, so you have to find a fresh copy on the web somewhere and then install patches.

Connie asked, where are all the educational games. Seems like there aren't anymore to buy. So, off to look at PC Gamer to find some. Here are some others have ben playing based on their ESRB rating at gamespot as well as their top 100 kids games:

* Simcity 4. This is the simulation that started it all in its latest form. It is all about building and maintaining a city. The kids love Zoo Tycoon, so here is the next step up.
* The Sims 2. Just releases sequel, this is a smaller version of Sim City. You build your own little community and home. Gamespot also liked it.

There are some games that aren't educational, but at least they are fun:

• Crusader Kings. Probably not politically correct, but it is basically Risk in medieval Europe. Got a decent 8.2 which is not bad for simulation/strategy games.
• Firepower for Combat Flight Simulator 3. Ok, so this one is a little violent. Fun to play with the boys though :-) This is an expansion pack that makes the flight models much more real. Just what a Dad needs :-)
• Pirates!. Live the life of a Pirate, a revival of a 1987 classic. Sounds like fun, even if not educational.
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005. Great for our little guy who loves golf.

Solving the Rubik's Cube

These instructions can be used to solve a 3×3x3 Rubik's Cube and also a 2×2x2 Rubik's mini cube starting from any combination of colors on a mixed up cube. They are from Minh Thai who held the record in late 1981 of 26 second.

The method is

1. 1. Solve the top
2. 2. and 3. Correctly position and orient the bottom four (remaining four) corners
3. 4. and 5. Complete the bottom
4. 6. and 7. Correctly position and orient the four remaining middle edge pieces.

Alex's latest obsession is the Rubik's Cube. Here are some hints for you, Alex:

Rubik's Cube - how to solve the Cube or cheat. There are many sites around the Web that can give you detailed steps for solving Rubik's cube, and many are very good. However, if you want a quick run down of the approach so you can still solve it yourself, our tips are included below. For more detailed solutions, use the meta search engine at the end of this page. By using the entered keywords, most of the sites in the top results offer excellent and diverse ways of solving the puzzle.

1. Step 1: pick any of the sides and then get all the coloured squares on that face. Most beginners should have little problem with this step. Tip - in many combinations, one of the faces will have better positioned squares than the others. This is generally a good one to start with.
2. Step 2: After the first face is complete, manipulate the top squares so that the first layer of colours matches the centre colour of the four adjacent sides. After completing the top layer for all 4 adjacent sides, you will have a cube that is starting to take shape. Counting the center square, each adjacent side will have at least 4 correctly positioned squares.
3. Step 3: Solving the next layer is very quick and easy. Once you have learnt a few quick moves, you can flip all the edges into the right place.
4. Step 4: Now you are down to the last layer. You will need the formulas for moving around the squares without disturbing the rest of the solved cube. In most Rubik's Cube challenges, this layer takes longer than the rest of the cube. Many sites offer formulas for edge flips, corner twirls and other complex manoeuvres, so we are not going to repeat them here. BUT there is always one other option..

Here is a more advance tutorial from someone who won a championship named Lars:

The basic problem with the layer method is a big one, and it's obvious once you realize it. When you have completed the first layer, you can do nothing without breaking it up. So you break it, do something useful, then restore it. Break it, do something, restore it. Again and again. In a good solution you do something useful all the time. The first layer is in the way of the solution, not a part of it!

* Step 1 - Build a 2×2x2 corner
* Step 2 - Expand to 2×2x3
* Step 3 - Twist the edges --- 2, 4 or 6 bad edges
* Step 4 - Finish 2 layers --- Step 4b tricks
* Step 5 - Position the corners --- Complete Step 5+6 index
* Step 6 - Twist the corners --- Complete Step 6+7 index
* Step 7 - Position the edges
* Practice - 13 example solutions

After looking at a Mac Mini, these mini ITX systems, I wonder a little bit why folks don't just get a notebook instead. Essentially most of the technology limits get solved by low power notebook technology anyway and you get a free screen you can use on the road too.

Dell has the Inspiron 1150 Notebook in fact that I would say makes a great HTPC as well as something for the road. It is not as small, but it does have a 14" LCD screen. That in itself is not a bad TV:

The main advantage of course is that the Apple is so small at 6"×6", but the Dell is portable and you can watch it elsewhere. Something to think about if performance isn't a big issue. Also, the outputs for the Dell are only mini-pin analog output and it doesn't have S-video, but not a big issue is you are output to HDTV.

VIA Epic Motherboards. A good explanation of the many VIA motherboards that folks use for PC-based versions. A little complicated but essentially,

• PD boards are older in either 600MHz or 1GHz both fanless for embedded applications
• Older M boards that are 600MHz fanless or 1GHz with a fan but are optimized for multimedia playback
• MII boards add a PC Card and CF slot and are either 600MHz fanless or 1.2GHz with fan, but not a big upgrade from the M
• MS boards get rid of all the big headers (the main size limitation of these boards)
• TC boards take 12VDC in directly so you can put them in your car or use a "brick" adapter like a notebook.

They are so cheap to experiment with that everyone is hacking away at the Mac Mini:

• HOW-TO: Turn your Mac mini into a media center - Engadget - www.engadget.com. A good source for how to actually get it all connected. Points out that one problem is that storage isn't much, but if you are like me and Ludwig and mainly use it for compressed AVIs (you can get an HDTV show in 300MB/hour right now), then it isn't as big an issue. Won't be a PVR, so mainly just for taking stuff from the Internet.

These systems are the closest that you can get with a PC form factor to an iPod mini. Some resources include:

mini-itx.com - news. A great site showing both mini-ITX and the upcoming nano-ITX from VIA.

Hush Technologies. I bookmarked before, but these guys make nice looking mini-ITX.

Logic Supply. A do-it-yourself resource for making and buying small and silent computer.

Internet Archive Wayback Machine. Pretty amazing site, it has snap shots of tongfamily.com dating back to 1998. I started the thing in 1996 and I wish I had been smart enough to keep snapshots like this. Pretty fun to look at.

There don't seem to be many of these reviews, so here is what I and the kids thought. From our biased opinion focused on good food, fast service and nice people mainly. Here are our top picks in rough order of restaurants:

Mantles. This is in the Delta Sun Peaks. They have got the friendliest people. Even let Grace tour the kitchen when we were waiting for dinner. The food is Pacific Northwest mainly. Dinner was a bit slow, but they are very busy. They have the typical chicken, fish, etc. I did try their Asian entree that reminded me of Thai a little, but was mainly good because it wasn't just the usual meat and potatoes Northwest style. They have a nice, if expensive, brunch by the way. Kids under five eat free there and under 10 is half price (About $8 or so). They make omelets to order, but ask for a little extra cheese was Alex's opinion. Best thing is all the fresh fruit which is hard to get at Sun Peaks.

Bottoms. There are a bunch of identical grills and pubs. We ate at Masas and didn't get to Mackers this year. Bottoms has two things going for it. It is ski-in from the slopes, the food is nearly instantaneous. So get there at 1130AM and you'll be sure to get a table. The kids cheeseburgers are full size by the way and a great bargain. For grownups, the veggie burgers and the cod burgers aren't bad (although for our environmentally conscious kids, halibut would be a better choice than endangered cod or farm-raised salmon). This is a best as a lunch place we think. Masa's is an alternative and their rice bowls as well as ski videos are good, but the service is really very slow, so not a great place to lunch and then hit the slopes again.

Baggio's. There is nothing like homemade pasta at the end of a long day. These folks have it and it is good. Alex actually ate nearly two whole meals. One of the Fettucini Alfredo and another of there rissotto. This is one place kids and grownups can love. Pretty fast service too which is great.

Powder Hounds;. This place is bavarian in theme and while not the fastest place, the kids loved the food. The favorites were the fresh 8 ounce halibut and the wiener schnitzel. Before you laugh, the schnitzel looks exactly like a gigantic dino-chicken and so was a great hit with the kids. They are not very fast though, so get there early and when you order, make sure they don't delay the meal for the appetizer, just tell them to bring it all as fast as possible.

The Val. This restaurant has now converted into a fusion restaurant from a formal seafood restaurant, so beware. They have a good assortment of things like hoi sun noodles that adventurous eaters will like (although I found the sauce too heavy). This is a fancy place so beware that the quantities are smaller. The best thing though is that they have Jones Soda floats. Delicious for dessert and there is a kids size. Also their tempura plate isn't too bad.

Finally, we have one non-recommendation for those with kids:

Servus at Creekside. No pun intended, don't go there if you need fast service. They have a small kitchen, but more importantly, they do zero prep work. That is if you order potatoes, the very nice folks in the back will find a potatoe, peal it and start cooking from scratch. They have two sittings 5PM and 8PM and for us, getting there at 530PM, we didn't get food until 730PM. It was delicious, but it takes a lot of time particularly if they are completely full. Wouldn't recommend it for kids or hungry folks. And, as Connie points out, even 5-star restaurants like Rover's will make sure that when you are ready your food is too. It is absolutely fresh and homemade, but just be prepared.

In terms of places we didn't try, the new Japanese restaurant Toro's looked interesting. It is where the Heffley Steakhouse used to be and it is an antidote to all that beef, chicken and fish that gets served.

Sun Peaks Resort - Winter 2004/05. Just got back from there and before I forget, here's a data dump on having a great time there....

Seattle to Sun Peaks

It is about 330 miles and we've never gotten there in less than seven hours including a break for lunch and the usual kid stuff. The main thing is to know where to stop on the way there.

First of all take the Sumas border entry. It is usually incredibly short in terms of lines (and big in terms of odor, but you'll find out when you get there). The diretions are hard to come by on the Sun Peaks site, so here they are along with a travelogue both coming and going. The best directions are on sunpeaksvacationChalets.com or Yahoo Maps gets it right.
Mile 0. Getting up and going bright and early at 8:30AM is about the perfect time since you'll get to Sun Peaks while it is still daylight. That's important if you've never been there.

Mile 90. Drive to Bellingham and take the Mt. Baker Highway exit, SR-542. Got for about 13 miles and then make a left on Route 9 going north. It is very pictoresque and scenic and I presume full of police with radar, so follow the speed limit signs

Mile 115. This will take you to the Sumas border exit. Remember, you need to have your passport. Also there are no fruit or vegatables allowed, so chow down before you get there.

Mile 130. You will get to Chillawack and it will be about lunch time. We get there about 11:15-11:30. Get off at Vedder Road exit and go south, take the first right on Luckakuck Way (what cool names), on your right is Cottonwood Mall and there is Earl's whic is the most decent restaurant before you get into the mountain passes. Try their Thai Curry, it's amazingly good. Also, the kids like the Fettucini Alfredo. Also, if you are lucky enough to have a DVD player in your car on brought a computer with you, its a good idea to start a movie now as kids are usually getting a little tired now and you've got a ways to go. (like 2/3s of the trip :-). Also, if you are low on gas, get some now. It is a huge gap of nothing you are about to cross.

Mile 160. The miles are a little fuzzy here, but basically, you take the Trans-Canada Highway (it actually becomes route 3 for a little) a little farther until you get to the Coquihalla Highway or route 5N. This is the quickest way over the mountains. You need C$10 for tolls, but don't worry, they do take credit cards at the toll booth. Get ready for an amazing amount of great scenario too as you get through the mountains. It goes for for 115 miles, so you are going to have lots of time to enjoy the view :-)

Mile 275 or thereabouts. This gets a little bit more fuzzy, but at this points, Route 5N joins up with the Trans Canada Highway again (Route 1 West). You now reach Kamloops and miraculously, you'll see a gigantic Costco, Home Depot, Canadian Tire, Wal*Mart (I'm not kidding). Take the Columbia St West exit, you should see a big super market called the grocery store and most importantsly a Starbucks at the corner at Columbia Place. Most importantly, there is a grocery store right there that has organize everything. This is a great place to load up on treats as this is the nearest grocery store to Sun Peaks, so pack up that Mac and Cheese, etc. The Bagel store there is also great. Filling up now is a good idea after that long run.

Mile 276. To get back on to the freeway, take Columbia West and the make a left onto Summit DRive, this will take you back to the Trancanada

Mile 280. Follow the signs to Jasper, be careful as otherwise you'll stay on the Trans Canada, you'll wind down towards the rivers and be on Route 5 going north.

Mile 300. You'll see a bunch of signs that say turn right. This is Heffley Creek, now you head up the valley to Sun Peaks. YOu are almost there.

Mile 330. Hey you made it! The village will suddenly appear about miles of going through cattle crossings and other scenic spots.

The Return Trip

The return is pretty much the mirror image of the trip above. The only tricks are:

Start out at 8AM if you can. THe main reason is that if it is a weekday in particulary, you want to avoid Seattle southbound traffic by getting home at 330PM or so.

At Kamploops, get off at Summit Drive. Remember that one. Make a right at Columbia and go to the bagel store or the Starbucks. This is a great breakfast thing and gets everyone in the mood to go. The maple bagles by the way are really good.

If you are hungry, you should get to Chillawack as it should be about 1130 and head to the Earl's again otherwise, if you can hold out get to Bellingham.

Just before you cross the Sumas border crossing, there is the GST rebate place. You actually don't see it until 500 meters before, so don't worry. it is on the right. This is a good time to start the movie by the way.

At Bellingham, stop at Dos Padres. It is a little off the beaten track
It is a little off the beaten track, but it gets you out of the really bad fast food places on I-5. This is where the original taco salad comes from (or so they claim). In any case, you should be there about 1PM after the big rush. There is also a gas station there, so a good place to fill up. They have some other nice restaurants in that area called Fairhaven we didn't have a chance to try, but was incredibly restful to stop there. No pun intended.

Movable Type - News - Movable Type 3.15 released

Version 3.15 fixes a vulnerability in the mail sending packages for all Movable Type versions in which the user has enabled comment notifications. This vulnerability allows a malicious user to send email through the application to any number of arbitrary users.

Enough said. I enabled comment notifications, so there, I've upgraded :-)

a little ludwig goes a long way: mac mini as htpc. Ludwig loves his for HTPC use. I kind of agree it is the right form factor etc.

Only small point is that he does say, and for once the mac is the price leader -- compare with windows-based systems that people are "building:http://www.hanselman.com/blog/BuildingYourOwnWindowsMediaCenterEdition2005HomeTheaterPCSystem.aspx

That's true in the sense that it cost $150 (!!!) for Windows Media Edition, but I'm not sure I completely agree it is a price leader. You can get a comparable system including a monitor for $500 from Wal*Mart right now if you don't buy Microsoft software.

Let's compare machines at $1500 vs. $500. That being said, performance really isn't the issue, convenience is.

And of course there are all the USB, Firewire and 1GB Ethernet that comes standard on the high end machine. This is not to say the Mac Mini isn't great, it is just that a $1,500 machine is a screamer.

A comparable machine BTW is probably more like the Epics that people are building for a little less. For instance the Hush Mini ITX is a 1GB VIA system that is probably performance comparable. I've been thinking about getting one. It is about $1,000 list price, so more expensive but is build to order which is nice. It is a niche European manufacturer, so you can of course build your own:

So Apple definitely has the leg up when it comes to a niche player just based on volume.

Finally, I was curious to see just how cheap a PC can be regardless of cuteness factor. I'm actually quite amazed, here's the cheapest Wal*Mart PC that you can buy and it ain't bad spec-wise. They have a really cheap $200 machine, but the comparable is:

So Wal*Mart is essentially selling a complete system that is essentially about 4-5x faster in terms of CPU plus it is a complete system. I thought this was an outlier until I realized the Dell Dimension 3000 is essentially the same machine at $439 for CD or $459 for DVD-ROM with a Pentium 4 2.8GHz processor so its a name brand system as well. It also includes a CRT with it and is a complete system.

So net, net they are beating Wal*Mart by about $50. Wow, amazing a complete and very nice system for $450 or so. That is PC economics all right. A probably a new recommendation for me at the low end.

Had a great time skiing, back at it after a year with a torn ACL. It is amazing how you knee won't hurt if everything else aches :-).

In any case, I had new boot, bindings and skis, but only got to use them a few times before blowing out my knee last year. Here's a quick review of them:

K2 Axis XP. Skiing Magazine rated them 53% Carvers and 47% Floates and I'd have to agree, they are so wide (115mm tip, 78mm waist and 105mm tail) that they are hard to turn really sharply. They like medium turns only. They are very high with a 16mm high side cut, so if you lay them down, they dig big trenches, but you have to be strong to do that. Caused me plenty of aching quads (Skiing rates them 59% power and 42% finesse and I'd have to agree). They are incredibly stable on both hard pack and in spring crud (in February can you believe it). Skiing rated them 3.42 out of 4.0 for speed, 3.15 off-piste and 3.18 on corduroy. I'd agree. They are super stable as well. For me as an intermediate, it has been a channel learning to lean that far over with hips to get them to carve, but well worth it.

In 2005, these skis are now named K2 Apache Recon which imho is a much cooler name than Axis XP. Now listing at $1,175 with bindings. Roughly the same scores as the Axis XP (Power/Finesse of 67.5/32.5 ratio). And similar scores 3.25 speed, 1.48 off-piste (they are using a different scoring system now for this), 2.63 corduroy and 40/60 carve to float.

Salomon X Wave 9.0. I love and hate these boots. They are so snug that they make my toes black and blue (yes, I'm going to have them refit), but they provide so much more control than the old rentals I had. They are performance boots, so they need strength to flex which is great at the start of the day, but certainly not for beginners. Main thing right now for me is a custom footbed. The el cheapo foot beds I bought cause the boots to just jam the old toes and squish hard across the width. The most important part of skiing is these boots and getting to fit is hard.

And now for the things I still need to get...

Camelbak FlashFlo

VAIO T140 Notebook (Sony-VGNT140PL) - PriceGrabber.com. John Zagula was using my laptop and loving it. Here John is a link with the lowest prices. Newegg has them for $1845 delivered.

Nothing like getting towed. Actually, it hasn't happened to me since I was 18 years old in Chicago, but that's another Rock'n'Roll High School story.

If it happens to you, here are some things to know:

• Finding your car. It is actually not very clear where car disappears if you get towed. There are three phone numbers: Columbia Towing - (206) 722-2535, GT Towing - (206) 938-4423, Lincoln Towing - (206) 364-2000. It's going to cost you at least $108(!!) to get your car back plus the parking ticket. You also have to be the registered owner of the car. You have 12 hours to collect the thing before they start charging $6-29/day. What a racket!
• Municipal Court of Seattle - Ticket Payment. You also get a nice ticket as bonus where you get to pay $38 within 15 days. They have an automated system, but it takes 3 days for them to enter tickets into it.

TomsNetworking Product Reviews : TomsNetworking :. Here is the perfect combo device for $100 or so. It has Wifi, router and also is a 2-port VOIP phone system. Quality on Vonage was only OK according to them.

The bottom line for me is that the GP2 is a very good, feature-rich, hardware based firewall / router, with decent wireless performance and QoS features that are essential for setting the balance between VoIP and other bandwidth-hungry applications. But I'll be keeping my old telephone.

To test the performance of the VoIP side of the GP2, I turned to Testyourvoip.com. This is a free service run by Brix Networks in hopes that it will whet your appetite for their pay-for VoIP performance management products. TestYourVoip.com lets you run two types of tests. The first uses a Java applet to make a VoIP call to Boston, Helsinki, London, Montreal, San Jose or Sydney. This test essentially tests the fitness of your computer and Internet connection for handling VoIP traffic. The second (which requires free registration) lets you make a voice call to a "Golden Phone", which measures the actual voice quality of a call made through a VoIP service.

I then made a call to the site's "Golden Phone" and got a score of 4.4. Here's what the site says about the testing results:

"While the theoretical MOS scale tops out at 5.0, practically speaking, you won't get a 5.0 score no matter how good your network connection is. That's because VoIP codecs introduce some amount of quality loss. For example, the maximum MOS score you can achieve with the quality-preserving G.711 codec is 4.4. For the low-bandwidth G.729 codec, the maximum is only 4.2.

ZIP-KIT-NK1 ZIP-LINQ Retractable Nokia Phone Charger Kit at TigerDirect.com. NOw that I have USB connection for just about everything, I can charge my Blackberry, iPod, Bluespoon AX headset all from my laptop or any USB connection, the only thing left is my Nokia 6620 phone. Here's the $20 solution from Tigerdirect. Its got the right USB to power adapter plus a DC-to-DC convertor since the phone needs 6V and USB is just 5V.

Also comes with an in-car charger that is 12V in the car to USB. Wow, another charger gone and now every device can get recharged in the car. Not bad for $20.

All the gory compatibility details are on the Ziplinq site.

You can also get the M01 kit for $15 if you don't need the in-car charger. This also gives about a zillion other connectors for Motorola, Siemens, Ericsson adn Nokia phones in trade for the in-car charger.

Of if you really need the AC adapter and the car charger, get the ZIP-CELL-Kit1 from Tiger for $25.

Deb asked me what's the cheapest way to upgrade her Dell Inspiron 8100 and not have to buy a new laptop. A great question since laptops are not that upgradeable and they are expensive. She was thinking about buying a new 60GB hard drive and an additional 256MB of memory for a $300 upgrade.

Given the machine is 2-3 years old, things haven't gotten a lot faster. Also since the machine is out of warranty, you can use aftermarket parts and save a little as well. So here goes:

First the memory, this thing is a Tuatalin processor, so a Pentium III 1.2GHz-M or thereabouts. It also have firewire but not USB 2.0. It takes up to two PC133 SDRAM modules so you can get another one for about $50 and then spend the rest on more external disk. In terms of memory, that can help performance too, so getting another 256MB of SDRAM is not a bad idea. According to the memory configurator, you need 256MB of SODIMM SD-RAM PC133. That's a mouthful, but you can get this from Kingston for Zipzoomfly for $50 according to Pricegrabber

Here are some simple things to think about first is to get an external hard drive and you can decide to spend less than $250 if you want to ($300-$50 for the memory). You can put many more movies on it and it will last when you upgrade your computer. Models to think about that are external with Firewire interfaces:

• LaCie d2 Extreme. These are very fast and quite popular. The 250GB is just $217 and should be all you ever need for a long time. Techonweb is a good reseller that has it for a good price. The more modest 160GB model is just $160 so not as good a value but definitely cheaper.
• Seagate External. Another good name. These drives are fast too. They have a 400GB model for $300. That's a lot of money, but what a big drive that even I would lust for.

So net, net, get the Kingston memory from Zipzoomfly and then decide if you need 160GB ($160) or 250GB ($217).

Joystick Directory at Joystick Review. No one seems to be playing flight simulators anymore, so the reviews I've seen of joysticks are usually a couple of years old.

Microsoft has even exited the business, although ebay has quite a few SideWinder Force Feedback 2's around. Thye have a great rating of 89.5 out of 100.

Thrustmaster (now acquired by Guillemet) traditionally makes the most realistic joysticks. The most accurate current model is called the HOTAS Cougar at at $250 according to Pricegrabber it had better be incredible.

The Top Gun Fox 2 Pro is still around and was super highly rated at 92.5 out of 100 and its a very reasonable $35.

Finally there is the Saitek X45 which is way overboard for the hard core gamer. Comes with both a throttle and a stick. At $77, its very complicated and really for the hard core gamer.

We are off to Sun Peaks. I'm actually kind of amazed how little information there is on the web about this ski resort. Well, maybe we can be the top hit :-)

Anyway, here are some resources:

• Sun Peaks, British Columbia - Reviews and travel information. There are a bunch of sites like epinions and igougo.com that have entries for Sun Peaks, but absolutely no content. This seems to be the best general purpose reviews mainly about how nice the Delta Sun Peaks Resort is. Makes me suspect that either it is an incredible resort or that they have figured out how to get people to write about it.
• Sun Peaks Office Site. Except for the snow report, this is a pretty useless site. There are for instance no deep descriptions of hotels or of restaurants and the reserveration applet just doesn't seem to work. The main thing is that they have a list of restaurants and hotels with phone numbers that seems up-to-date (more than can be said of yellowpages.ca which can't find any Sun Peaks Restaurants at all).
• Mountaingetaway.com. This seems to be one of the only professional reviews written. They do have a basic description of restaurants althought the descriptions are pretty clearly ad copy.
• Sun Peaks Reservations. These folks do alternative bookings and they seem to have the best guide for the various rental properties. We use this site for our bookings.

So here is our guide to Sun Peaks....

Lodging

First, if you are going up there for February break, the key is to book early. We normally do it in July of the previous year. It is super popular with folks in Seattle mainly because it is a "blue" mountain filled with intermediate slopes and it is not gigantic like Whistler so the kids won't get lost all over it.

In terms of the best lodging, the map really shows off the best where you should stay. Here are some recommendations:

• "Snow Creak Village". These are condos which are ski in and ski out. As condos, they are roomy and have kitchens. Most of the other places are kind of ski-in, but you still have to hook it. So if you want to make it easy, find a spot there. The main reason for booking early is that you can get an outdoor hot tub if you are first :-0.
• "Timberline". The Snow Creek condos book early, so as an alternative, Timberline is a good choice. You still have to hoof it about 10 minutes to get to the slopes, but most of them let you ski pretty close. These have 2-3 bedroom condos and are very roomy. We got quite a few people into our unit two years ago.
• "Sunburst Estates". If you want to get deluxe, there are a few houses that are right on the slopes. YOu can't as easily book these, but they are really nice. (that is, they don't book at sunpeakreservations.com).
• "Delta Sundance Resort Lodge". If you are splurging and want hotel life, this hotel is right in the middel and super deluxe. We haven't been there yet, but it does have a spa, hot tubs, etc.
• "Forest Trails". We've not stayed there, but close to the Snow Creek condos and they seem newer.

Restaurants

Here from memory and Sunpeakscondo.com and Mountaingetaway.com are some restaurants to think about. The main thing is that during the February break, things are incredibly crowded, so we highly recommend booking restaurant reservations early. One year, we waited an hour just to get pizza. This is a small mountain and you have to imagine a thousand kids all hungry at the same time.

• The Val. This is a high end restaurant. We ate there, it is pretty good and all the restaurants are kid friendly. Not a bad choice for the first night or if you get a "date night" out. (250) 578-8111
• Mantles. This is the restaurant inside the Sun Peaks Resort hotel. 150 seats. Pacific Northwest Cuisine. Its for upscale family dining, so a good choice for after skiing when you want some decent food. Call (250) 578-6000
• Baggio's. They are in the Heathstone and have home made pasta. 250-578-8832.
• "Servus at Creekside". This is a high end restaurant. (250) 578-7383. Serves "European" cuisine whatever that is.
• "Mountain High Pizza". The usual pizza and they deliver too. 250-579-7272
• Double Black Steakhouse. If you really want to tempt fate with Canadian beef :-)
• Macker's Bistro & Bar. (250-578-7894) Casual with pizza, pasta, steaks, kids’ fare. You know the drill.
• Powderhounds;. Casual dining with veal, pasta and other European cuisine.(250) 578-0014
• Horie's. If you absolutely have to have Japanese food, theere is a semi-decent restaurant that has it, but it ain't super deluxe.
• Masa's, and Bottom's are both pubs at the bottom of the mountain. Decent and good for lunch. Just make sure to get in at 1130 or after 130 to beat the rush. Another reason to ski early.

Ski Lessons

On this crowded week, you need to book ahead for ski lessons. Call 250-578-5505 to make a reservation. There are a couple of options including a whole day day-care thing for kids, but for us, Sun Tots is a good program. You get a 1.5 hour group lesson so just enough for Grace.

Other things to do

• Sun Peaks Massage Therapy & Spa. This is a great thing for folks like Connie who hate skiing. Available 7 days a week for massage therapy, body wraps, salt glows, facials, pedicures, manicures, tinting, waxing, make-up artistry, hair styling, etc. (250) 578-7222 for reservations.

Phone service

Naturally your US cell phone works, but the roaming charges are killer. Far better to get a dial around service that works in Canada. Here are some choices:

• If you go there a lot AT&T Wireless has a US/Canada plan if you go there a lot. There isn't cell coverage on the mountain as I recall.
• Cognicall or if you are going to use broadband access anyway, but they have a dial-around service that is 11.6 cents per minute. Pretty reliable. Nice thing is that there is no monthly fee, but you do have to sign up. It technically a prepaid, monthly-billed calling card service. You dial an 800 number in Canada, type in your access code and then any number in the US.
• OneSuite. A similar service to Cognicall, but it uses VOIP for transport. It is 3.5 cents if you use their 800 number. So it is way cheaper, but it does require that you buy in $10 prepaid increments. There is no monthly charge unlike many other services, so it is very inexpensive as long as you are willing to commit $10 to it :-)
• Skype to get out into the real world.

HDTV FAQ" href="http://htpcnews.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=7678">HTPCnews Forums -> Recording HDTV FAQ

Q. Can I record my satellite provider's HDTV feeds?

A. No you cannot. The satellite vendors employ encryption and use a different signal encoding scheme than OTA or even cable.

Q. Can I record my cable provider's HDTV feeds?

A. Yes and No.
Yes, you can usually record the local feeds that your cable provider carries (ie: Fox, CBS, ABC, UPN,etc.) after all, these are free to the air anyway. To record these channels you will need an HDTV capture card that is compatible with the encoding scheme cable companies use (QAM256). Currently the only cards to work are the Dvico FusionHDTV III QAM, the newer FusionHDTV III Gold-T, and the Sasem USB HDTV

Digital Connection has them for $150

Home Theater PC News - Your Source for Everything HTPC Related

Then you will want to look at building an HTPC around Windows XP Media Center Edition (MCE) 2005. MCE 2005 is a copy of Windows XP SP2 and a PVR/media center rolled into one. MCE requires a fairly new system with MCE certified drivers for video and TV. MCE only works with certain compatible DVD decoders. It also only works with certain hardware encoding capture cards. This is to ensure a more controlled and hopefully trouble free HTPC experience.

Are you looking for lots of customization and tons of options to expand what your HTPC can do? Then look towards a front-end program like Meedio Essentials. It has an international community of end users and an active group of users developing plugins. Meedio Essentials is also the only front-end that I know of that has a native music player that supports ASIO output for bit perfect playback.

Mostly concerned with a TiVo-like experience but with the benefits of being on a PC? Try out SnapStream’s BeyondTV 3.5 or Fre