Author: Kent

Reader, writer, arithmeticer. Proprietor of Newsome.Org, a tech, music and life blog.

American Jihad?

I think President George W. Bush may have finally lost it.

According to the BBC:

President George W. Bush told Palestinian ministers that God had told him to invade Afghanistan and Iraq – and create a Palestinian State, a new BBC series reveals.

“I’m driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, ‘George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan.'”

If these are accurate quotes, I understand this.

I thought for a minute I was reading The Onion.

As a general rule, almost everything about politics bores me, so this is in no way a comment one way or the other about the various wars we are fighting or the possibility of a Palestinian state. But those quotes bother me a lot.

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More on the New DVD Formats

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If you’re interested in a little more detail on the DVD format war I discussed the other day, Business Week has a very interesting article about it.

The story reads like a high tech barroom brawl, with the Hollywood cartel promoting DRM and lots of it while Microsoft tries, seemingly unsuccessfully, to promote its vision of the PC connected home and keep the X-Box in the race. It’s a great read, even if you don’t care about the technology involved.

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Thinkpad Tablet: Waiting in Vain

This is the second part in my Thinkpad Tablet PC adventure. Part 1 is here.

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I checked my order status last night (using Internet Explorer, of course, since Lenovo’s order status page won’t work in Firefox).

From the first time I checked my order status until last night, the information page has always stated that my computer was back ordered for “2-4 weeks.” I was hoping we were getting closer to 2, since I ordered the computer nearly 3 weeks ago. Alas, such is not the case.

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Last night, the information page reported only that my computer was “back ordered” and suggested that I call for further information. The “Estimated Ship Date” column, however, has an estimated ship date of 11/8/05 for the computer and, oddly, 11/9/05 for the extra battery. A little more than a month away, assuming (which I do not) that this date is accurate.

I really want this computer, but my zeal is beginning to fade. Now that Gateway has released its new Tablet PC (heavier, but with more stuff on it), I am rethinking my commitment to the Thinkpad.

The verdict: I still slightly prefer the Thinkpad because this will be a travel computer and it is lighter. But I am not so committed to it that I will wait and wait and wait. I’ll give it another week and see where we are.

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Delaney's First Soccer Game

Delaney had her first soccer game this morning. She jumped right in and played as hard as she could. She kicked the ball a few times and (mostly) paid attention to the game.

With a little more practice, she can be a good player. Most importantly, she had a good time.

TIVO Deathwatch: DirecTV Launches Ad Campaign

The New York Times has an interesting article about the forthcoming DirecTV brand digital video recorder. A few highlights:

1) DirecTV is spending $30M on an ad campaign to market its new digital video recorder. The non-HDTV model (which no one should buy since the future of TV is HDTV) will be available in late October. The HDTV version, which DirecTV hopes will be an HR10-250 (the HDTV TIVO I and many others paid $1K a piece for) killer, will be available in mid-2006.

2) The TIVO/DirecTV contract requires DirecTV to pay TIVO around a buck a month per TIVO subscriber. All of this for a buck a month. I’d gladly pay another buck a month if it would keep TIVO on DirecTV life support.

3) DirecTV will continue to “support TIVO” without marketing it. That’s great for non HR10-250 owners, but the HR10-250s don’t support MPEG4, which DirecTV is moving to, so they’ll be obsolete doorstops soon regardless of DirecTV’s stealth support.

4) The TIVO/DirecTV contract expires in early 2007, so even the stealth support may end then. Given that possiblility, why would anyone who uses DirecTV even think for a second about buying a TIVO. That’s right, they wouldn’t, which is exactly what DirecTV wants.

5) TIVO has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against EchoStar, the owner of Dish Network, a DirecTV competitor, over Dish Network’s digital video recorder. Certainly, this raises the possibility of a suit against DirecTV.

TIVO continues to look for a way to reinvent itself in a market that is sadly moving against it. I wish it would work, but as a DirecTV customer, TIVO is no longer an option for me. It looks like people who want to keep using TIVO are going to have to switch back from satellite to cable. I just don’t see that happening to any significant extent.

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Tech Tips for Tweeners: Wireless to Go

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One of the primary purposes of Newsome.Org is to introduce and explain computer-related programs and features to other in-betweeners like me- people who are the parents of the youngsters to whom computers and the internet are as integral as the telephone and the children of our parents who have no intention of ever embracing computers.

These days almost everyone has a work laptop and those of you who don’t soon will. Wireless network connections for connecting to a home or office network and the internet are becoming commonplace in offices and in hotels. In fact, the Days Inn in Cheraw, SC has something the very upscale Barton Creek Resort and Spa doesn’t have- free, high speed wireless internet!

In any case, wireless networking has gone mainstream and most newish laptops have wireless network capability. This is helpful for home networks- we have a secured wireless network at our house that allows me and our guests to use our laptops anywhere in the house. Wireless networks in offices allow visitors to connect to the internet in conference rooms. Wireless networks in hotels allow you to use your laptop from the easy chair, bed, etc. The problem is that many hotels, even nice ones, don’t yet have wireless networks. Rather, they have a cable-connected network, usually via a little box on the desk. This works fine until you want to move to the easy chair on the other side of the room- beyond the reach of the network cable.

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Well, thanks to Linksys there’s a cheap and easy solution to this problem. I bought a Linksys WTR54GS Travel Router from Newegg for $79.99. I took it on its first business trip last week, and it was invaluable. Here’s how simple it was to use.

I plugged it into the electrical outlet in my hotel room (the built in plug is retractable for easy storage). I plugged the hotel room network cable into the router (the router comes with its own network cable just in case the hotel room or other location doesn’t supply one). I turned on the router. Immediately I had a fast, stable network connection. Simple as that. I didn’t even need to use the installation CD that came with the router.

Granted, my instant network was unsecured, but it’s easy to set up a secured network and you only have to do it once. After that, a secured network is equally instant.

The router is small and comes with a handy carrying case for the router and the supplied network cable. All in all, this is a must have for the frequent traveler.

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Stuffing the Cat Back into the Bag

emptybagI have never seen a more aggressive attempt to stuff a cat bag in the bag than the idiotic one currently being waged by the record label cartel against anything the doesn’t involve paying $15 for a CD that costs about a buck to produce. Now they’re after satellite radio.

I guess if I’d been riding the backs of artists and their fans for as long as the record labels have, I’d try to stuff that cat too. The problem is that it won’t work. The digital age is upon us record label friends and all you’re going to accomplish over the long run is to alienate people like me who used to buy a lot of your product.

Here’s what needs to happen. Some smart person needs to creat a company that duplicates CDs and creates and duplicates the associated packaging the way Qoop produces photo books. The same company could distribute the music on CD either by itelf or via Amazon and other online stores. The same company, or even the artist himself or herself, could distribute the songs electronically via MusicMatch, Yahoo Music, etc.

That would show the record labels that they don’t control the game anymore. Let’s put the power and the money back in the pockets of the artist.

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Friday's Link: Botswana WildCam

Here’s a really cool combination of technology and the great outdoors. National Geographic has a live webcam at a watering hole in Botswana. Unlike 99.99% of the webcams in the world, this one actually works.

It pans around the watering hole and seems to zoom in when the computer detects movement.

I’ve seen quite a few animals over the past few days- wildebeests, some sort of an antelope looking animal and a bunch of birds. And that’s after only about 15 minutes of total watching time. There is a long list of animals that have been spotted at the watering hole.

Very cool deal!

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