Gale Force

If you checked my flickr stream recently you probably saw some pictures of a beautiful Home Theater PC. My friends and I got a crazy idea to start a new company that will build, install and support home theater PCs. Rather than building our prototype model we decided to buy a pre-built system just to see what components, hardware and techniques the “pros” used. After extensive research we decided to buy our system from PCAlchemy who seems to be a leader in HTPC systems and hardware. We chose their XTE system because we wanted a fairly impressive high-end system that we could use for demonstrations.

Well the system arrived a few weeks ago and has been nothing but headache, anger and frustration ever since. PCAlchemy used the Intel DP35DP motherboard which sports on-board Hi-def audio powered by the Sigmatel chipset. When we first powered up the system I could not have been more disappointed with the sound quality. Regardless of the audio source or quality the playback was stuttered and crackly (is that a word?). I tried everything I could think of to resolve the issue including BIOS updates, driver updates, system reconfiguration, cable replacements and hammer smashing (OK…so it was my mental hammer mentally smashing the thing into little ice-cubed size chunks). I even disabled the on-board audio and installed a SoundBlaster Audigy card to try and narrow down the problem. The SoundBlaster card produced the exact same results…leaving me even more mystified. At this point I’m hoping PCAlchemy lives up to their customer service reputation and helps me get the issue resolved. Last week they were busy fleeing for their lives from the California wildfires so hopefully this will be the week things get fixed. Until then this thing is not an HTPC…it’s an HTPoC (as in HT Piece o’ Crap).

Audio problems aside, I’m liking the HTPC concept very much and I think Vista Media Center is as good a software package as you’re going to find. If you are considering a Vista Media Center PC let me suggest a few additional tweaks and software packages that will turn your system into the ultimate HTPC.

1. Enable “Gallery” (or DVD Library) view in Vista Media Center. I guess Microsoft (and the MPAA) doesn’t want you storing DVD content on your hard drives so this feature is disabled by default. If you plan on ripping DVDs to your hard disk you’ll want to enable the Gallery view in Media Center. This Microsoft KB article has instructions on how to do it.
2. Because you’re putting DVDs on your hard drive, you’ll need a good movie collection management application. The free Media Center plugin MyMovies will fit the bill nicely. Features include: DVD collection management and playback, indexing of movies using online data (coverart, movie synopsis, actor information etc), multiple client support and DVD ripping from within Media Center. Unfortunately the DVD ripping feature will only work with un-encrypted DVDs which leads me to my next item…
3. SlySoft AnyDVD. AnyDVD will remove DVD copy protection on-the-fly allowing you to use nearly any DVD ripping application to store DVD content on your hard drive (including the aforementioned MyMovies plugin). Buy it, install it, love it.
4. CCCP. No, I’m not talking about the former communist regime. CCCP is the Combined Community Codec Pack which is a solid, reliable codec pack with support for every video and audio format you’ll ever likely need. The most compelling reason to install CCCP is for its excellent H.264 and MPEG Transport Stream (TS) support. HD anyone?
5. WebGuide. WebGuide adds Slingbox-type functionality to your Vista Media Center for free! Just install and configure the application and you’ll have the ability to remotely view live TV, watch and schedule TV programs and manage your audio, pictures and videos from any web-accessible browser (including mobile phones).
6. Ninan. I have a love/hate relationship with Ninan. I love the idea but I hate the oft-buggy implementation. Until I can set up a linux machine running HellaNZB, however, Ninan will have to do. So what is it doing exactly? Well, Ninan is a binary news downloading program that uses the popular NZB format. Ninan will automatically download, repair, extract and categorize binary Usenet posts. Because I don’t own a Tivo *gasp* I regularly use Usenet to timeshift my favorite television shows — Ninan has made this process easy. I have set up Ninan to download my TV shows to a “watched” folder in Media Center so all my shows, regardless of origin, are now available from one convenient location. If you want to use BitTorrent to accomplish the same thing, might I suggest Ted.  UPDATE 11/20/2007: Ninan released version 1.1.4 a few days ago which fixed many of the problems plaguing the 1.1.3 version.  Way to go guys!  I <3 Ninan again.

By itself, Vista Media Center is a good software package…but if you’re looking for the Ultimate Home Theater PC you’ll need a little more. I hope these recommendations help. Happy HTPCing!

Special thanks to Grant Shipley for first introducing me to MyMovies, CCCP and Ninan (although I don’t think I should thank him for Ninan just yet…remember there’s still that whole love/hate thing going on).

Have you ever seen perfection?  Allow me to show you.

I stopped by my local IFA store at lunch today to pick up a bag of Fall Blend fertilizer for my rather anemic-looking lawn.  As if being guided from above, I happened to glance at the candy rack where I beheld this confectionary marvel.  I have long been a fan of the Pearson’s Nut Roll — in fact, I consider myself to be somewhat of a nut roll connoisseur.  I have gone through life thinking that the original Pearson’s Nut Roll was the ultimate combination of sugary, salty goodness — never to be outdone by the likes of PayDay, Mr. Goodbar or any *scoff* pecan log.  Little did I suspect that the company to de-throne the Nut Roll would be the same company who created it.

Pearson’s, I tip my hat to you.  You have truly outdone yourselves…with a simple layer of delicious milk chocolate.  My only plaint is the two taunting words emblazoned within the golden ribbon: Limited Edition.  Obviously this treat is not one to be taken for granted, and with a saddened heart I understand that the Chocolate Nut Roll will not be here forever.  Fortunately for me, my IFA store has a large supply on hand and according to this site:

“The average shelf for a chocolate candy bar is anywhere up to six (6) months “

Food storage anyone?

This month the Atari 2600 celebrated its 30th birthday. In honor of this momentous occasion, RetroThing has just wrapped up Atari Week reminding so many of us where are love of video gaming originated.

It got me thinking about my video gaming roots so I put together a brief genealogy of video gaming at the Gale house.

1. In the beginning was Atari 2600.
2. And Atari 2600 begat TI-99/4A.
3. And TI-99/4A begat Colecovision.
4. And Colecovision begat Intellivsion.
5. And Intellivsion begat NES and the people did rejoice exceedingly.
6. And NES begat Sega Genesis.
7. And Sega Genesis begat SNES.
8. And SNES begat N64 which begat PlayStation.
9. And PlayStation lived many years and was fruitful in the land.
10. And PlayStation begat Dreamcast.
11. And Dreamcast begat Xbox and Xbox became modded and was highly favored of the people.
12. And Xbox still holds a special place amongst the noble and great ones.
13. And Xbox begat Wii.
14. And Wii begat Xbox 360 and thus ended the reign of video games.

Our family was pretty cutting-edge when it came to console gaming. We were usually the first one on the block with the “new” system (due in part to my mother being employed at ToyWorld [later Kay-Bee Toys] for the better part of my childhood) and a large part of our discretionary income was spent on expanding our games library. With the exception of the PS2 and the Sega Saturn I think I pretty much covered all the important console bases growing up. The neighborhood kids flocked to our basement and many a Friday night was spent trying to beat a standing Hi Score (to this day I think my MouseTrap, Asteroids, Tetris and Ghosts ‘n’ Goblins records still stand). Ahh the good old days.

Here’s the funny thing about video games…with very few exceptions (Guitar Hero, Wii Sports and a few driving games) the old classics are far more entertaining and enjoyable to me than any of the games available today. I still have my old Xbox running emulators of all the great systems including Coleco, Atari 2600 and the original NES. Invariably I’ll catch myself playing Excitebike, Tetris or Super Mario Bros. far more often than Halo, Madden or Ghost Recon.

I guess it’s true what they say…you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. Maybe we just don’t want to learn.

Happy birthday Atari VCS.

Nerf warlocks! Buff retribution! Prot warriors are worthless in PvP! Karazhan destroys guilds! Daily quests are full of loss! Oh wait…I don’t care anymore!

That’s right folks…after 3 years and more /played time then I’m willing to admit, I have broken up with Blizzard. I was paying for two accounts and I just didn’t feel like I was getting $30 worth of entertainment out of it each month. I had no interest in raiding after BC came out, questing and grinding was a bore and level 70 PvP was tedium at best. The only thing that has held my interest over the past several monthas was twinked PvP.

Meet Jerrenn. There’s something very fulfilling about taking a lower level character and gearing him up to the absolute max and then unleashing him on unsuspecting victims in Arathi Basin and Warsong Gulch. My good friend got in on the action and created a 49 warrior, Descartes, who completed the “dynamic duo” of 40-49 PvP. DPS Warrior + Holy Paladin = wtfpwn. Oh the battles we fought….matches single-handedly won for the Alliance, faces melted, HKs galore, nodes captures, flags returned. These were good times.

Like every good thing though…it had to come to an end. Descartes went into retirement feeling like WoW had become Unreal Tournament - only not free. I soon followed and the dynamic duo is no more. Maybe we’ll make a WotLK comeback…I haven’t completely ruled out the possibility. But for now, good luck Alliance 40-49 PvP in the Cyclone battle group…you’ll need it.

So, faithful readers, my first and last WoW post you’ll ever read. Hope you enjoyed.

OK, I can’t make this stuff up. Here are the campaign signs for the local City Council race:

Now I’m no political analyst or anything but based on the candidates names alone, I don’t think it would be too difficult to predict a winner. At least Mr. Whimpey recognized his uphill battle and chose a slogan of: “A STRONG voice for the people”. Too bad Mr. McDonald didn’t do the same: “Tired of the clowns running our city?” or “Now trans-fat free” or “Supersize your vote!” or “Would you like ‘lies’ with that?” (ok that one was weak).

Good luck gentlemen…may the best (named) man win.

UPDATE:  Results Are In (OK, they’ve been in for a while but I’m a slacker)

It used to be that I’d only strap on a single gadget when I’d go running. Just me and my trusty iPod, strapped to my arm and powering the awesome Sennheiser headphones I purchased a while back. Well I’ve added another gizmo to the routine and I think this one puts me ever closer to being accepted as a “real” runner (come on all you elitist running jerks…you know as well as I do that if someone doesn’t have a Garmin Forerunner strapped to their wrist they’re not to be taken seriously). I finally broke down and purchased a Garmin Forerunner 205. I passed on the 305 because I wasn’t convinced the extra $100 for the heart monitor strap was worth it. Besides, who wants to know how close they are to a pulmonary embolism while they’re running.

Now that I’ve had a few week to play with my new toy, I gotta say, I’m loving it. It has all the functionality you’d expect from a GPS but it really shines as a training aid. You can display all sorts of data on up to 3 data screens including pace, distance, current lap time, overall time, elevation etc. You can save courses and compare your performance on a given course over time and you can compete with a virtual training partner! The full list of features can be found on the Garmin Forerunner 205 Product Page….check it out, you’ll be impressed.

Now, if the watch alone weren’t cool enough, I’ve recently discovered an awesome website that let’s you map your workout routes online: www.mapmyride.com. What does that have to do with the watch you say? Well the website developers created an awesome little utility that will take the routes from your Forerunner and upload them to the website directly. I’ve used the site for quite a while, but I used to input my routes manually which was laborious and prone to inaccuracies…now I’m in heaven.

Here is my profile on MMR with links to some of the routes I’ve uploaded.

Being the gadget addict I am, I’m convinced that very soon I’ll look very much like Locutus while I’m out jogging around…Resistance [training] is fruitful…

PS - The Garmin Forerunner 205 gets the official Gale Force Seal of Approval!

Well apparently blogging was like so many other things I tried to do faithfully. Among those: practicing piano, writing in a journal, showering, eating 1 square of dark chocolate each night (the problem here was NOT the faithful part…it was the 1 square part), writing to my pen pals and a few others I’ve conveniently forgotten about.

Any-ol-hoo…I’m just gonna pick up right where I left off and carry on like nothing every happened…la lee lo…never mind the many month absence of quality JG blog posts….lo de do. Carry on people…nothing to see here…recently…but there will be…in the future time.

Wow…I’m rusty…this post really stinks. Look at all the ellipses I’ve had to use to keep things flowing. Oh well, maybe a nice shower tonight followed by some piano playing and journal writing will inspire me for tomorrow.

Peace…out.

I, like every other patriotic, red-blooded American, went to see Transformers over the 4th of July holiday. The movie was awesome but I walked away from it feeling a little bit scheistered. No, it wasn’t because Soundwave didn’t make an appearance…it was all of the not-so-subtle product placement I was bombarded with throughout the movie.

I knew this was going to be a 2 1/2 hour GM commercial but I wasn’t expecting all the other blatant product plugs throughout the movie. Here are the ones I caught…

• Captain Lennox used an HP video conferencing unit
• Sam’s dad takes him to the Porsche dealership
• Sam mentions eBay and MySpace
• Mikaela was seen eating at Burger King
• The little girl by the pool was holding a “My Little Pony” (Hasbro)
• Glen’s cousin was playing DDR
• There was a Nokia phone that was “transformed” by the All Spark
• There was a Mt. Dew vending machine that was “transformed”
• There was an XBOX 360 that was “transformed”
• Gratuitous close-up of a Panasonic memory card
• Nice plug for Ding-Dongs from the P.O.T.U.S.
• The boombox Decepticon was GPX brand

Holy sell-out Michael Bay! I guess that’s the only way you can make such a rad movie with only $150 million in the budget…

Now if you’ll excuse me I’m off to BK for a Whopper right after I check my eBay auctions.

I was chatting with a friend today and he relayed a story about a call to Apple tech support. Trying to diagnose a problem they told him to perform a maneuver that most gymnasts would have trouble with.

“While holding the Apple + Alt + P + R keys, press and hold the Reset/Power button.”

Convinced he had been asked to perform the most difficult key press combination of all time, I told him about the time I had to do a zero out reset on my Palm Treo. I think they called it a zero out reset because you have exactly a ZERO percent chance of performing it correctly.

Here are the directions from PalmOne’s website:

1. Read through these instructions before attempting the reset. We made this method of zero out reset extremely awkward to perform, so that it would not happen by accident. You may need the help of a dextrous friend if you find it too difficult to do by yourself.
2. Connect your device to its HotSync cable or cradle. The HotSync cable does not need to be connected to your PC, and it does not need to be connected to power.
3. Press and hold the Power button and UP on the 5-way navigator.
4. While continuing to hold Power and UP, press and hold the HotSync button on the HotSync cable or cradle. As you press HotSync, make sure your other finger doesn’t slide to LEFT or RIGHT on the 5-way navigator; it needs to be exactly on UP during the entire process. Although you are pressing the HotSync button, a HotSync operation should not begin.
5. While continuing to hold Power, UP and HotSync, press and release the RESET button on the back panel of your device (where’s the reset hole?). This is very difficult to do with only one person; you may wish to hold the stylus in your mouth and use your hands to press Power, UP and HotSync.
6. Release Power, UP and HotSync.
7. If you did this reset correctly, the screen of your device will go blank, and you will not be able to turn it on. The charging LED will not light up, even if it’s connected to power. It will appear to be “dead.” (any other activity — such as the Palm OS logo or a rainbow-colored Boot Log screen appearing — means the reset was performed incorrectly; try again)

First off, when they suggest you may need a dextrous friend to assist you with the reset you know you’re in trouble. If that weren’t bad enough, by step 5 they’re actually suggesting you hold the stylus in your mouth! Uhh I’m no lawyer or anything, but asking people to put a slim, sharpened metal object in their mouth to press buttons seems like a lawsuit waiting to happen.

And I love step 7: “If you did this reset correctly”. Come on, you KNOW for a fact the person didn’t do it correctly. Just be honest and change step 7 to read: “7: Do it again…and again…and again”.

Sorry Pete, I’m pretty sure the Palm Treo zero-out reset is THE most difficult key press of all time.

PS - Thanks Jake, Andy and Mark for helping me reset my Treo that day….

According to the race results, I am the 8th fastest 30-something year old in Orem. Take that 9th place guy!

I’m not normally one to toot my own horn (at least publicly) but I’m proud of the fact that I just ran my first 5k race ever! After all, a mere 6 months ago I weighed 252 lbs. and I couldn’t even drive 5k without getting tired. Now my scale uses the numbers “1″ and “8″ to tell me my weight and I’m signing up for races as fast as I can find them…I feel unstoppable. And hungry.

Sorry about the self-aggrandizing post…I couldn’t help it.