April 2007 Archives

DVI vs. HDMI vs. Component Video -- Which is Better?

First, to clear away one element that can be confusing: DVI and HDMI are exactly the same as one another, image-quality-wise. The principal differences are that HDMI carries audio as well as video, and uses a different type of connector, but both use the same encoding scheme, and that's why a DVI source can be connected to an HDMI monitor, or vice versa, with a DVI/HDMI cable, with no intervening converter box.

DVI/HDMI and Component Video are all video standards which support a variety of resolutions, but which deliver the signal from the source to the display in very different ways. The principal important difference is that DVI/HDMI deliver the signal in a digital format, much the same way that a file is delivered from one computer to another along a network, while Component Video is an analog format, delivering the signal not as a bitstream, but as a set of continuously varying voltages representing (albeit indirectly, as we'll get to in a moment) the red, green and blue components of the signal. Both DVI/HDMI and Component Video deliver signals as discrete red, green, and blue color components, together with sync information which allows the display to determine when a new line, or a new frame, begins. The DVI/HDMI standard delivers these along three data channels in a format called T.M.D.S., which stands for "Transmission Minimized Differential Signaling." Big words aside, the T.M.D.S. format basically involves a blue channel to which horizontal and vertical sync are added, and separate green and red channels.

Powered by ScribeFire.

When you arrive in an overnight, it sure is nice to clean up and feel fresh. Here are the shower facilities as I know them and you can kind of glean things from Skytrax Lounge reviews

United Red Carpet Clubs in Hong Kong, London Heathrow, Sydney and Tokyo Narita have showers. With first class, you normally get into the red carpet club, so you should be set the Narita showers are in the first class lounge upstairs. Also, ANA at Narita has showers as well in both business and first class lounge areas.

United Arrival Suites. If you are First International or full fare business then you can also use the United Arrival Suites. You have to really march to get there early. The San Francisco ones are between the International and United domestic. They are hard to spot, but underground. They are in London-Heathrow, Paris Charles De Gaulle, San Francisco.

As an aside, if you are lucky by 4Q07, United is upgrading their First Class Suites which aren't that competitive with the really high end ones. The new ones are three inches wider (yeah!) and most importantly are fully flat 6' 6" beds. The monitor goes from a tiny 4" to a decent sized 15.4" and they are finally going to have an video on demand. Most important is that they bag the strange connectors for power and go straight to 110V universal power and even have a USB port so you can charge your iPod. The sad news is that this won't happen until 4Q07, but at least they are going to upgrade all 97 of ther international planes.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Maybe I have a rootkit and not a virus. Despite all my best efforts, I can't seem to get rid of this thing that creates a six digit EXE in c:\windows\temp. Wikipedia actually says that if you have one, the best thing to do is to reinstall since a rootkit modifies so much stuff. Wow, this stuff is terrible. There is a free checker called blacklight, but the problem is that to really work, you need to boot from a CD and not run the operating system itself.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Mac Rumors: Apple Mac Rumors and News You Care About

Reuters reports that an AT&T executive confirmed that the iPhone will be arriving "at the end of June".

"Our expectations are good. Our testing has been good," said AT&T Chief Operating Officer Randall Stephenson. "The iPhone is on target to launch in June."

This is consistent with Apple's previous statements regarding the iPhone's progress. Apple announced that iPhone was on target on April 12th:

iPhone has already passed several of its required certification tests and is on schedule to ship in late June as planned

Powered by ScribeFire.

AirlineQuality.com. I haven't used this site in a while because I've mainly been stuck on United. But just this month, I've been on Qantas, JAL and probably Cathay soon, so it bears some checking. Some quick reviews for me and also see FlatSeats.com which only reviews the high end seats.

1. ANA. Wow, this is a nice airline. For some reason, I had always thought that JAL was better, but their flight to Shanghai has lay flat seats, although they are inclined. The main thing is the business class lounge is very good. They have showers and their udon noodles are delicious. They fly a brand new 777 to Shanghai
2. Qantas. Who knows how long this will be decent airline since they are about be bought out by a bunch of LBO firms. I can say that before that they run a two-class service from Shanghai to Sydney. The business class seats are lay flat, but they are inclined. They are really firm which is kind of nice.
3. JAL. I had always thought this was a great airline, but it has slipped. The seats on the short Shanghai to Sydney leg were so, so and only reclined about 10 degrees it felt like and the video entertainment system is at least on demand (unlike United!), but the screens are really old and pretty much unviewable in any sort of light. The lunch was just OK vs. ANA. The main thing though is that their Sakura lounge is really pretty bad. Compared to ANA, it doesn't have hot food nor showers at least in the building 2 satellite. BTW, AirlineQuality.com agrees on the lounges but not on the inflight seats. OTOH, this was a really old 767-300 that I flew on.

As I mentioned had a really bad case of spyware. No US program would get rid of it (including Yahoo's version of Webroot, Spybot, Trend Micro, etc). Finally got rid of it with a set of Chinese programs. First is Rogue Cleaner (Onlinedown.net) or 恶意软件清理助手. There is also an online virus checker that we had to use. You have to boot into safe mode and then run the web-based detector at Rising. Good luck if you have one of these terrible things.

FWIW, the Chinese name is literally
流氓 liú máng rogue
软件 ruǎn jiàn software
清理 qīng lǐ cleaner
助手 zhù shǒu helper

Powered by ScribeFire.

I really don't know why it is so complicated, but if you want to be able to have someone send a message on behalf of you and look at your email, there is a complicated process to get Outlook and Exchange to do it. This method from Microsoft seems to sort of work.

Powered by ScribeFire.

What a difference just a month makes. Since the last HD Camcorders, Sony, Canon and Panasonic have all introduced new models, this changes the decisions quite a bit. Using Camcorderinfo, here are the latest tradeoffs and selection:

1. Canon HV-20. $1100 MSRP. Canon announced a bigger camera called the HV-20. Unlike the HV-20, this one isn't a skinny one, but more like a small box. The big deal is that it has much better low light performance and retains the very high quality high light. Also, it has a true 24P (24 frame progressive) at 1080i which has much truer colors. At $1100, it is $100 more expensive than the HV10 and bigger, but it has a much higher picture quality. The main drawback remains that it is not a hard disk camcorder, so you still have those pesky tapes to deal with. Again, if you can hang on, I just feel that there is a hard disk HD camcorder coming in say by Christmas 2007. It btw beats the new Sony HDR-HC7 because of better picture quality and it is $200 less.
2. Canon XH A1 ($4000 MSRP). Ok, this is if you really are a professional and semipro. It is larger and gigantic and is also tape based, but it has amazing low light performance. It has three 1/3" CCDs and it also doesn't have that really saturated look, but is more film like professional in quality.
3. Panasonic HDC-SD3 This is a SD or SDHC card based camcorder, so it doesn't have a hard drive, but is 1920×1080i with three CCDs. cost is $1275. The older HDC-SD1 is the only one available outside of Japan but I wouldn't recommend it, it is not true 1920×1080i, but is actually 1440×1080i. The biggest issue is that it uses the new AVCHD codec (like the new Sony's) which is pretty immature. It is noisier than the older HDV format used in the HV-10. It has more in-camera sharpening than the HV-20 and about the same as the more consumer-grade image of the HDR-HC7. The bright light noise is quite high at the same levels as Sony's offering (DVD-based HDR-UX1 and hard-drive-based HDR-SR1). The second is that it has lots of motion artifacting (this is really because the new H.264 codec hardware used in AVCHD is still maturing) is really noticable in the Panasonic compared with the Sony HDR-UX1 for instance. BTW, this also means low-light performance is pretty bad as well.
4. JVC Everio HD7. $1800. This is the dark horse that we just have to wait for.This is a hard disk camcorder that is about to come to the US. It records in MPEG-2 at 30Mbps onto a 60GB hard drive, so it has a higher bit rate than HDV MPEG-2 (limited to 25Mbps) and isn't as efficient as the AVCHD (15Mbps maximum, so it is about twice as efficient to go H.264 vs. MPEG-2). Also it has a broadcast quality Fujinon lense and has 3 CCDs. BTW, it is using a variable bit rate MPEG-2 up to 30Mbps which is nice since MPEG-2 works with DVDs, Blu-ray and most video editing systems.

Powered by ScribeFire.

OK, this probably should go into a work blog, but this is the one I have open. We are looking at a company where FASB FIN 46 makes a difference. It is about the consolidation of interest from special purpose vehicles. Its designed to prevent the Enron-like off-balance sheet financing which killed it. Here is:

• FASB Fin 46R. The actual PDF of Revision 5 of FIN 46
• Wikipedia. The Wikipedia explanation for dummies
• Equipment Leasing. Jeff Taylor goes over what this means for equipment leases
• Vinod Kothari. His interpretation.the high levels
• CFO Magazine. A good piece on it at

Powered by ScribeFire.

MP3Tag is a nice freeware program that lets you take MP3 tags and change the filename. I like to do this so that all my music is really nicely laid out.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Lakeville Regency. This is supposed to be one of the nicest complexes in Shanghai. The second section has just been completed.

Powered by ScribeFire.

The Lakeville Regency

The World Wildlife Fund has a guide for the right sustainable fish to eat in Hong Kong and the Pacific. This is mainly for Hong Kong, but is not bad for the rest China. You can print out a wallet sized guide.

If you live in the US, then Seafood WATCH which the Monterey Bay Aquarium started is still the best place to get the food guides. They now have special pocket sized guides for the West, Northeast, Hawaii, Southeast, Central US, Southwest and also a general national guide.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Had a chance to visit Sydney with a local. Wow, if you get there, beside the usual tourist traps, here are some cool places to go right in downtown:

InterContinental Sydney. It is a spectacular renovation, with $30M put into it, it feels new. Make sure to spring for the Club Intercontinental rate though. There is an absolutely amazing 31st floor lounge that has got to be the most comfortable I've ever been it. It has a 270 degree view from the Sydney Bridge all the way to the botanical gardens. Also, it has a happy hour which is amazing, free wifi and a place to print and scan and fax too. Super friendly folks.

Quay Restaurant. This is an amazing restaurant, it is perched at the end of the Circle Quay (pronounced "key" in Australia), that is the main ferry area. You get a complete view of the harbor. They have a prix fixe menu that has five selection for four courses. Amazing and delicious. We were there on a night where the moon literally rose over the Sydney Opera house.

Bather's Pavilion reviewed at Eatability.com.au. I was last there 13 years ago and it has gotten even better. its now completely renovated and its got a tremendous view. Its a little bit far, but for the ultimate in luxury, charter a water taxi that will get you there in 15 minutes and which will also give you incredible views of Sydney at sunset. Sunset falls right down on the Sydney Bridge. It's in Balmoral and number is (02) 9969-5050. They have a prixe fixe menu as well (all three restaurants we went to did, so maybe this is a trend). I had the rabbit and it was incredible.

Lenin. A really spot right on Circular Quay. A great place to sit outside and watch the world go by. Try their Kangaroo sandwich, its really good. Also, we didn't have a chance to try it, but Minus5 is an ice bar where you can have your vodka in the cold. Like Binjiang One in Shanghai.

Spit Bridge to Manly Walk or vice versa. Shawn took me on this and it is really amazing. You have to bring your camera though as the views are spectacular. Take a cab for about 15 minutes to the Spit and then you walk about 10km through the coast and end up in the incredibly cool beach town of Manly. We did it Spit to Manly which is actually way better.

The Sebel Manly Beach. If you can stand being 15 minutes away from the city, this is just an amazing boutique hotel. The top levels have a view of both the Pacific and Sydney Bay.

Rockpool and reviewed at Eatability. OK, maybe I had a few too many cocktails, but I thought the food her was amazing. The scallops were really good and the lamb that I had was stupendous.

AirportLink. It costs about A$38-44 to take a cab or limo from the airport to downtown. If you are near the Circular Quai, there is also a train that takes 10-15 minutes and the terminal is in the airport. You can actually buy tickets on line and it is A$10.50 each trip so a good deal.

Powered by ScribeFire.

I'll translate them in a little bit, but here are some good Chinese reference sites:

太平洋电脑网 PConline.com.cn->IT世界 由此精彩. This is a really great site for geek information on everything from computers to cell phones to printers and camera.s

上海美食 - 大众点评网. This is a review site for restaurants and everything else in China. User input is what drives this. Pretty accurate. Uses a Zagat like index for restaurants.

Danieli's_大众点评网. This is supposed to be the best Italian restaurant in Shanghai. Very expensive though, but good.

上海餐厅排行(口味评分)_大众点评网. This is the list of the top rated restaurants by food quality。

福乐居_大众点评网. My buddy at Weirdmeat.com says Rendezvous is the best Malaysian/Singaporean restaurant in Shanghai. It is actually just terrific, their curry noodle thing is delicious, the curry lamb is really good as well. It is really hard to find though as the Gateway is confusing. It is on the first floor and it is across from Element Fresh in a little area inside the building, there is no signage at all, so good luck.

Powered by ScribeFire.