Author: jarek91

Apples aren’t all roses

Don’t get me wrong, I love my new iMac. It’s sleek, fast, and easy to use. Every program I use regularly at home on my Vista laptop has an OS X counterpart. But I do have a bone to pick with Jobs’ company about one thing. While the overall prices of the base models are in line with the cost of PC’s with similar specs…prices on the upgrades are somewhere in the realm of stupid.

Have you priced memory lately? The iMac uses PC2-5300 SODIMM RAM chips. I can buy 4GB of RAM (2x2GB sticks) for less than $80. I can get it for less than $65 if I don’t care about branding. So tell me, Apple, why does the 4GB upgrade cost $500?? Exactly what kind of crack are you smoking? Going from a 250GB to 500GB SATA HDD is an increase of $149. The retail cost difference is less than $30. As a matter of fact, a 3GB/s 500GB SATA HDD is less than $100. So tell me what the hell is wrong with you people?

I understand the basic concept of capitalism. I know that all companies are out to make money. But these prices aren’t reasonable. They aren’t acceptable. They’re insane and outrageous. I will gladly buy a new iMac when this one becomes too underpowered for what I want to do. But listen to me, Apple. I will not purchase any of the upgrades for my system from you as long as you insist on applying these ridiculous price gouging techniques. I know how to plug in a SODIMM chip so I will be buying my memory from Newegg.com which will save me over $400 and leave me a 1GB chip to toss into my Vista laptop.

It’s things like this that continue to perpetuate the idea that Apple is a pompous company that is entirely too full of itself. If you ever want to shake this image and quite possibly begin seriously eating into desktop marketshares…you have to change your pricing structure. Since you haven’t changed this downright idiotic pricing scheme, I can only assume some people are dumb enough to use your upgrade options. I won’t be one of them and neither will anyone I send your way to buy from you guys.

Nothing about the design of your systems is worth the “Upgrade Stupidity Tax” you guys impose. This is by far a much greater affront to me than the “Microsoft Tax” you pay when buying from another company. So wake up, Apple. Stop feeding the fire of the “fanboys”. Get your prices in line with the rest of the world and maybe, just maybe, you’ll find that you can sell more systems.

Castigations and Plagues

Alright, it’s time to get back to roots. I haven’t done a Rant in a long, long time. Welcome to the Real “SoapBoxRants”.

As I have said before, I am a Pagan. Before we go any further, go look up the definition. It means I am not Christian. It does not mean I worship Satan or sacrifice virgins. As a matter of fact, go over my previous religious rants to understand how many different ways my religion is like your religion. Now…moving on to tonight’s topic.

Why do people have a predisposition to be told what to think? What is it about the Human Race that leads the majority to follow the most charismatic person almost without question? Have we evolved so little over the millennia that we have not yet shed the shackles of our primitive tribal origins? Are we so insecure about our own existence that we need to be told by someone else that it is okay for us to be? It would seem that is the case. Much like my often mentioned Mother Culture, the Human Race almost inevitably turns to charismatic spiritual leaders and immediately takes things too far.

Take for example an email I received the other day from a devoutly Christian friend of mine. It talked about how we of the United States should boycott the new one dollar coins because of the exclusion of the phrase “In God We Trust”. I find it curious that such a movement in a country that touts its tolerance and acceptance of freedom of religion would gain ground. It almost reeks of cult brainwashing and that thought disturbs me greatly. All I have ever hoped for is to find that there are other free thinkers out there and yet at every turn I am confronted with more bigotry and prejudice. To make matters worse, these actions are justified by these people as being righteous indignation at the affront to their spiritual beliefs. It is as if they do not understand the true concept of religious freedom.

In this world, there are a myriad of religions. I would hazard that each and every one of them claims to have an exclusive insight into the understanding of whichever divine being brought forth this world and our Race. I do not claim to have such intimate divine knowledge personally so I cannot say which, if any, are correct in this claim. I do, however, take issue with any religion or practitioner of a religion that refuses basic respect and courtesy to any that have a differing belief. Just because it is different does not mean it is wrong or evil. It just means that it is not exactly like yours. There is knowledge to be gained through diversity.

And what exactly do I think about other religions? That is a wonderful question. If you were to, for argument’s sake, witness an automobile accident along with about twenty other people and all of you were interviewed by the officers that responded…you would probably get twenty-one different descriptions of what happened. In general they would touch the same high points but the details themselves would vary from one person to the next. I think the religions of the world are the same way. In general, they are all alike. They touch the same high points (like love and forgiveness) but differ in the details (like eating pork or resting on Sunday). We are all looking at the same Divine, just from a different angle than the person next to us.

And that goes for fellow practitioners of the same faith. Just because you share a religious label with someone does not mean you will have the exact same views on the Divine. I have always said that true faith and one’s relationship with the Divine is a very personal journey. Nobody will ever experience my religious path other than me. Some may share certain feelings or moments, but none will duplicate what I have inside. Remember that the next time you feel like pushing your views onto someone else. It will not matter what you try, we will never have that exact same moment that you remember with such fondness. Feel free to share your view, just do not attempt to make it my view. I will do the same.

This is one of the reasons I have such a fondness for Paganism. Wiccans and other Pagans are far more passive in the spreading of their religion. Our view is that those who are interested will seek us out and inquire. Our job is to answer the questions put forth to us. We will not attempt to convince you this is the correct path. We will simply share our knowledge and let you decide what is right for you and we will encourage you regardless of your decision. This is because we, for the most part, understand how personal this journey should be.

This is not to say that Paganism is a better path than a Buddhist or Judeo-Christian path. It is merely different. And I have to admit that there are some Pagans that will be pushy about converting just as there are Christians who are passive. There are no absolutes where Religion is concerned because Faith is kept by Humanity and Humanity varies greatly. All Religions run the gamut of tolerance and openness. But from my experience, Pagans tend more toward passiveness. I think all Religions would do well to re-examine their doctrines and true purpose and get back to the core of their teachings.

Religion is a good idea run amok. Mother Culture has twisted it into a series of extremes that galvanize the world into opposing factions causing chaos and disorder and war and pain. We speak of tolerance while we treat others with intolerance. We preach of love while we practice hate and war. We speak of forgiveness while harboring grudges against those that have wronged us. This is not what any of us were taught by our Religious texts. We have gone astray. We have taken Mother Culture’s path of self destruction. Before it is too late, we need to stop and return to the path we delude ourselves into thinking we are on.

Life with an iMac

So I had the DOA Superdrive replaced. It was as easy as dropping it off Monday afternoon at User Friendly, the local Apple service center and then picking it up on my way home on Tuesday. Don’t let their website fool you, these guys are a full blown Apple retailer that really knows their stuff. I spent about an hour in there on Tuesday talking shop. I know that we are getting an official Apple Store in the Jackson, MS area, but I think I will continue to give the guys at User Friendly my business. There’s a lot to be said about a friendly atmosphere of knowledgeable people that don’t pressure you into purchases you may not want or need.

Anyway, I have since been completely re-ripping my CD collection. I wanted to have a clean and organized digital music collection without all of the fluff and chaos that has existed in my old folder. After all, I have not done a thing to straighten up the old library that I have been migrating from computer to computer over the last five or six years. It is an unholy mess and it needs to be buried. I am happy to report that the new Superdrive is working wonderfully.

As for the user interface, that is taking a little getting used to. Having no “maximize” button is definitely causing a shift in my thinking…much more so than having the windows controls (close and minimize) on the upper left corner. I am also having to remember that there really is not an equivalent to the Windows Start menu. The Dock, however has made that fairly easy since I have more than enough room for my commonly used programs.

I do like how the programs are installed as “packages” in a folder on the drive. If you want to uninstall a program, just delete the package. Simple. See, a package is like a cross between a zip file and an executable (EXE) file. Everything for that program is stored inside the package and you can browse it like one might do a zip file. But to run the program, you just double-click the package and it runs like an EXE in Windows would. This modular approach prevents the problem in Windows of remnant files and setting being left after a program is removed from the system thus avoiding the inevitable slow down of the computer over time.

I believe I mentioned that my employer is an almost purely Microsoft shop (with the exception of that one Linux system running for spam filtering). That is not a problem either. OS X can easily be configured to use a VPN connection provided by a Windows Server system without any additional software. Then with a quick download of the Microsoft Remote Desktop Client for Mac, controlling the work PC is as easy as three mouse clicks.

Did I mention that I am using this system over my wireless connection even though I am only 8-10 inches from my router? I really hated the knot of cables that used to weigh down my desk. I am also able to connect the iMac to my AT&T Tilt over bluetooth for sharing photos and music between the two systems. It is not quite as easy as using WMDC on my Vista laptop, but that is to be expected. I really would not expect an iPhone to connect and share services with a Vista computer as easily as it would with a Mac.

I have discovered that most of the software I actually use like FullTiltPoker, The GIMP, OpenOffice and Firefox all have OS X versions that function just like their Windows counterparts. That was the only real worry I had when I decided to take the plunge into the world of Mac…learning new applications. It was an unfounded worry because so much software is written for both platforms and use very similar interfaces between platforms. Open Computing is very nearly upon us. By that I mean that regardless of the OS you finally choose, you will have the same application suites available to perform the tasks at hand. All we need now is some sort of ActiveX VM for Mac and Linux so all those sites work the same cross-platform and Open Computing may very well become a reality. And isn’t choice the ultimate goal?

iMac – First Impressions (updated)

As I mentioned previously, I am not a Mac user. I use Windows and Linux for my computing needs. But now my iMac is in and I have been playing with Mac OSX Leopard for a few hours. Let me just say to Microsoft, this is where the Wow is.

The initial setup of OSX when you first turn on the iMac is as simple as you could ask for. It finds your network, wireless or wired, and prompts you to input any necessary configuration information to connect to said network. It asks you to create an account password and picture (using the built in iSight camera…more on that in a minute) and then let’s you into the desktop. It quite literally took less than five minutes to get the entire initial setup completed. Are you listening Microsoft? I really don’t need Vista taking in excess of 15 minutes on the initial startup. It’s a waste of my time and I don’t have all that much to spare.

The desktop is clean. You have the application bar at the top and the dock at the bottom. Think of the dock as a quicklaunch bar. Icons for the programs you will use the most should be here. The application bar will be somewhat confusing to longtime Windows users. See, programs in OSX do not have a menu bar with the familiar File, Edit, etc menus. The application bar changes to reflect those. This will probably be the hardest thing to learn when moving from a Windows environment to OSX. As for a taskbar showing a little button for every running program…you won’t see that here. However, changing between windows is just a squeeze of the mouse away. Yes, I said squeeze. The Apple Mighty Mouse has left and right click, a scroll ball (for smooth vertical and horizontal scrolling…a wonderful little bonus), middle click, and squeeze. If you squeeze on the two side tabs, all active windows shrink and spread out across the desktop so you can see all available programs. Click on one and it becomes the active window.

If you middle click, you get the Dashboard. This is a pseudo desktop that overlays the current desktop. On the Dashboard are widgets. Think of them as the gadgets in Windows Sidebar. I am not getting into the argument over which company or group came up with these things first, I am simply describing what the Windows equivalent would be for easier visualization. The Dashboard starts with a calculator, weather, clock, and a calendar. You can add, remove, and relocate widgets across this desktop to better fill your needs. If you don’t see a widget for something you want, there are many many more available online.

The iSight camera is simply amazing. The pictures are clear and the video is smooth with very little blurring even during fast motion. I probably played with my position in front of the camera for four or five minutes when OSX just wanted me to make a picture to associate with my user account. I was just that amazed with the quality it provided. I plan on playing with it a lot more over the weekend.

Sound on the iMac is both loud and surprisingly clear. The speakers are built into the system and are hidden behind the lower part of the bezel on either corner. There are no holes in the bezel to denote that sound is coming from there, which caught me off guard. I did not expect so much noise to come from so small a package without it sounding tinny or distorted. Somehow, though, Apple managed to put together a wonderful system capable of making happy about ditching my old Creative speakers and further uncluttering my desk.

My only gripe so far is the length of the USB cables for the mouse and keyboard. At this point I am going to have to completely redesign my desk to accommodate the skimpy length. The keyboard has maybe two feet of cable and the mouse about one. Now I can understand the thought behind the choices. If you have the iMac on a flat desk, the cables are adequately long enough to accommodate comfortable use since the mouse plugs into the keyboard’s USB hub. but if you have a keyboard drawer under the surface of your desk and you want to use the mouse on the surface…well, let’s just say you need to start working on new desk designs.

Anyway, the point is the hardware is impressive as is the ease of setup. I haven’t had enough time to really dive into the applications yet, so that piece will have to wait a few days whilst I delve into the Steve Jobs Kool-Aid…

UPDATE: Well it appears my Superdrive is DOA. I suppose it’s off to the service center next week so I can get it replaced. Isn’t that just a wonderful start to my life with an iMac. And it only cost my one of my favorite CD’s to discover the horrible truth of the refurb.

How User-Friendly Is Your Site? – Demo Girl

Have you ever worked on your own website design? Do you design sites for your employer or for friends? There is a lot of work involved in creating the perfect site and while everyone will have different opinions as to what a perfect site is, there are a few UI gotchas that should be avoided universally. I stumbled across this wonderful screencast that points out some of the more irritating downfalls of website UI design.

How User-Friendly Is Your Site? – Demo Girl

And there is one thing I will add to that. Any site that you must log in to should make the log out link visible and near other account related links. I have a few bills that I pay where I log in and my menu with everything under the sun is in a bar on the left but the log out link is in 4pt font in the upper right corner of the page. BAD WEB DESIGNER! Go to the corner and think about what you have done.

An Apple a day

I have finally decided to go to the dark side. Already my house is populated with both Windows and Linux systems. It is now time to add Mac to the list. I ordered my iMac earlier this week and it should be in tomorrow. Honestly, I haven’t really spent any quality time with an Apple system since my early childhood when I spent countless hours with my mom’s Apple ][e running Apple DOS 3.3. Oh how that was such a monster system for its day. It had the 80 column card, 64k of memory, two 5.25″ floppy drives and a 300baud modem. Seriously, this thing was a powerhouse. But alas, that computer eventually died and I entered the world of the Commodore and Adam and TI99-4a computers. Eventually it settled down into the PC world with my purchase of a Packard Bell 486sx-25.

These days I use my Dell Inspiron 1501 with Vista Home Premium for most of my computing fun because of its portability around my house. My stationary box is a home built AMD Athlon64 running Ubuntu at the moment. I have a tendency to change the flavor of Linux on that box between Fedora, Gentoo, Slackware, and Ubuntu depending on my mood that week. The downside to that system is the noise ratio. I have 11 fans in that system and it sounds like a rabid vacuum cleaner with buck teeth snoring itself into oblivion when I turn it on. When you add the near radioactive glow that comes from the acrylic case and plethora of cold cathode tubes and LEDs, well, it is more than a little distracting. There is also the matter of the 550 watt power supply being strained to its limit and the MAG 19″ CRT sucking in as much energy as it can and happily producing copious amounts of heat as a thank you that just make me tired of using it. I decided to go a bit more green and a lot more quiet.

Enter the iMac. Basically a computer in a monitor, the iMac is a wonderful little device that is quieter, cooler, and immensely easier on the electric bill. Some people say that Apple’s offerings are far more expensive than those of Dell or HP. Not so. I did a comparison build of computers between manufacturers and Apple is right in line with their pricing. They also have the concept of making the computer itself look really nice. Have you actually seen one of the Dell XPS One systems up close? It has all the allure and style of a train wreck. It is large, unwieldy, and just plain bad. I do not put form over function when it comes to my computing, but that does not mean I want something that is downright ugly. Just hand me the sleek one that does all of the things I intend to do on a computer.

iMac computers are capable of everything I want to do. In addition to their renown for being an artist’s best friend, with Leopard and Boot Camp I can load Windows on it as well to perform whatever tasks required Microsoft’s OS. It is not emulation; it is a boot loader that allows you to choose between installed operating systems at power up. As a matter of fact, most performance benchmarks performed on iMacs since their shift to Intel architecture have shown that Windows performs better on them than on similarly built systems from other manufacturers. Crazy, isn’t it? So here I sit, waiting for my new toy arrive…my very own 20″ Apple iMac (refurb). Why refurb? Because I got it for $999 with full Apple warranty instead of $1199. Bargain basement pricing on what is essentially a brand new system. With luck, it will be here tomorrow. Once I get it up and running, I will post a little of my experience in transitioning to the dark side of personal computing.

Knight Rider Revisited

I watched the 2-hour NBC Knight Rider movie yesterday. I have read many, many reviews and opinions both before and after the original airing. And yes, I am a huge fan of the original KR series. (I’m still looking for an ’84 TA so I can build my own.) That being said, I have a response to the community in general. Get over it. You cannot go back and remake something that campy and expect it to fly. Nothing will ever live up to those giddy feelings you got from watching KITT turbo boost over an 18-wheeler while bullets bounce off the windshield when you were 7 years old. This movie was good. Let’s review…

KITT is not a Firebird. Guess what. It was never about what kind of car the A.I. was shoved into. He was also a ’57 Chevy Bel-Air at one point. Heck, he was a box at one point as well. The series has nothing to do with that and if you actually watch the show with an open mind…the Mustang can grow on you. I say this because it grew on me with just the movie and I don’t like Ford in general.

William Daniels is not the voice of KITT. Val Kilmer is. Remember that in the 80’s everything was really over the top. Subtlety was actually frowned upon, I think. Now don’t get me wrong, William Daniels was wonderful for the personality they created for the Knight Industries Two-Thousand. But that was 25 years ago. These days we have room for more subtle nuances. Val Kilmer can fill that role. He managed to inject a highly subtle emotion into his voice…or as I once heard it described for another character…emotionless emotion. I thoroughly enjoyed how one could get a feeling that there is a possibility for KITT to obtain emotion but just hasn’t quite gotten there yet.

The Hoff isn’t the star of the show. Have you looked at him lately? It’s been 25 years. He is starting to show signs of…well…getting old. Somebody else would have to have the role unless you want to make sure KITT is equipped with oxygen and adult diapers. No offense to David Hasselhoff fans, but the man isn’t in his 20’s any more. Seriously, people like that are the same ones that think Sean Connery is still spry enough to play Bond. They were good in their day…but that day is long gone. Get over it and let’s hope the current casting picks can portray the relationships and personalities that give a show like this life.

That doesn’t mean the show is without problems. While this is not as bad as Team Knight Rider by any stretch of the imagination…the “nano-bits” are just a bit silly when it goes so far as to give KITT different hoods and spoilers. I would be willing to go so far as changing the car’s color and repairing damage near instantaneously without comment. After all, the original KITT had a “molecular bonded shell” that protected him from all but a BFG-9000. I just cannot get over the whole building of entirely different body panels with the stuff while driving at 90mph down the interstate. Besides, where the hell do the scanners go when KITT builds that other hood? According to the KR mythos, those things are needed for KITT to “see”. Something stinks in fantasy land, like the rape of long-standing and established facts of the world.

One other thing, why in the hell does every male lead have to have constant 5 o’clock shadow?? I am right on the verge of buying a truck load of Gillette razors to send over to Hollywood since there appears to be a shortage of shaving hardware in the area. Call me crazy, but the ratty facial hair really doesn’t improve the character. This show is supposed to be a bit different from the run of the mill fare usually served up by stations. Why have the run of the mill pretty-boy look? It’s possible to have the star be hunky enough for the ladies and cool enough for the guys without pandering to the Universal TV Show Popularity Formula.

Forum Etiquette

When you visit a forum (like the xda forums I so often refer to in my Tilt posts), there are some rules of etiquette one should follow. I will be using examples from the xda forums throughout this post. First off, there are bound to be stickies. Stickies are threads that are pinned to the top of the forum. They will always be listed first and will be noticeable by either an image of a thumbtack or by the work Sticky: at the beginning of the subject. You should spend some time getting acquainted with those. Why? To become a Sticky, a thread will have information that will be useful for the vast majority of the users of that forum. It is important. That’s why it’s a Sticky. So read it. NOW.

Next, if you have a problem…do a search. I haven’t seen a forum without a search feature. Google also does a wonderful job if you know how to use it. For example, to limit your search results on Google to just pages at the xda-developers.com website, just add site:xda-developers.com to the search terms. As far as terms go, you want to use about 3-5 words that are pretty key to your issue. One example I can think of is you need to find the post that has the password to a zip file for one of Dutty’s ROMs…his Windows Mobile 6.1 ROM to be exact. I would try “site:xda-developers.com dutty wm6.1 password”. Odds are that I will find what I want in the first couple of results.

Also, and this is especially true of highly active threads and forums, you are not the first person to experience every little problem you encounter. It is possible you have run across a new issue. If so, wonderful, post the details so the regulars can pick it apart and find a way to fix it. But for the love of all you consider holy…search before you post!!! I can say that fully 45% of one thread that I frequent is the same question being asked by n00bs that do not understand how to read. Don’t believe me? Try this particular post I had to make. Yes, “had to make”, I cannot abide stupidity.

Finally, and this is important if you have run across something new…please be detailed. It is very hard to figure out what’s going on if the entire post is “I get an error when installing X program”. That’s wonderful. Now go away. If you want help, try explaining what ROM you are using, programs running, radio version, and what steps you took to produce this problem. This is what we need to help you out. If you don’t give that information, you will just be asked for it before you get any real help because we cannot tell what’s going on until we know these things.

Failure to follow these rules of etiquette will require the use of asbestos underwear as you will be flamed into oblivion. Why? We see the same questions over and over and we quite frankly get sick and tired of it. The example post I linked to just above was the result of a question being asked (again) when the answer was on the page where they posted the freakin question. We try to help. We try to be understanding. But stupid annoys the hell out of us. So exercise your brain cell and perhaps a few of his friends will stop by and give you some real synaptic action.

Don’t worry, those strange feelings in your skull are just thought and glimmers of intelligence. They’re in unfamiliar territory so try not to spook them.

AT&T Tilt Software – Revisited

In my previous post, I did a very high level overview of what software changes I made to my phone for better usability and performance. This time, we’re going to talk ROMs. The Tilt/Kaiser/Vario III/TyTN II/etc is a versatile piece of equipment. However, I have yet to find an owner that didn’t have a few pet peeves for things that were on there or things that were left out. Now many of these gripes can be addressed with just installing the programs we want. Removing provider bloatware is another matter. It is usually cooked into the ROM itself and does not show in the Remove Programs app. Enter XDA-Developers and the Kaiser ROM kitchen.

This little bundle of joy allows one to take a dumped ROM and customize it. You can then flash the rebuilt (cooked) ROM to the phone and enjoy all the new toys. Don’t have the knowledge/time/patience/desire to build your own? No problem. The guys at XDA are fanatical about tweaking and performance and have already built lots of ROMs to suit most everyone’s needs and desires. Personally, I like the ROMs cooked by Dutty. He produces them quickly and they almost always push a new boundary making the experience just that much better. I’ve gone through about four different Dutty ROMs and all have left me impressed.

I am currently using his DualTouch v2 Fixed Full ROM. This one incorporates elements included in HTC’s DualTouch phone such as TouchFlow and the Cube. Performance on this ROM is worlds beyond what I had with the stock AT&T build. Just make sure that if you flash the ROM, that you also flash the Radio ROM. These are separate steps and both must be done on an AT&T Tilt if you use a non-AT&T ROM. Why? The Radio ROM handles the peripheral hardware like the cellular radio, camera, and speaker. If you use a non-AT&T Rom with the AT&T Radio, you will lose the speaker and a have weird issues out of the phone. Don’t worry, the flashing of the radio is just as easy as flashing the ROM and faster. It won’t wipe out any settings, either.

So, how do you do it?

  1. Download and install HardSPL. This will allow you to flash non-factory ROMs to your device. Note: some AT&T users report a solid white screen when installing, there is a thread about it here. BE SURE TO FOLLOW ALL DIRECTIONS IN THE FIRST POST OF THESE THREADS.
  2. Pick the ROM of your choice and download it to your PC. Unzip it and run the .EXE file. Follow the directions on the screen. (There is no master list of ROMs, you just have to peruse the threads.)
  3. Most of the ROM chefs advise doing a hard reset on your device after the flash. This prevents odd issues. So do this after the ROM is flashed and the device reboots and finishes basic setup.
  4. If you have the AT&T Tilt and used a non-AT&T ROM, you need to install the Tilt Keyboard Fix. Just copy this to the phone and run it. Otherwise, some symbols on the keyboard will be incorrect.
  5. Also, If you run a Tilt, now is the time to flash the Radio. Just download the version of your choice (most suggest either .17 or .32 for best overall performance) and run the .EXE. Failure to do so will result in loss of audio and possible dropped calls and system instability.
  6. Load any CAB files and change any necessary system settings (like configuring email and marrying BlueTooth devices) and enjoy.

Beware, however, that flashing becomes addictive. You quite probably will end up changing the ROM often to see what new gadgets there are and what kind of performance the latest combination of tweaks provides. Don’t believe me? In the time it took me to write this article, I changed to Dutty’s DualTouch v3 test version to see what the hype was about. And yes, it looks like the performance increase is huge.

Hulu – Internet Television

I happen to like some television shows. I also love my DVR. This makes for a wonderfully easy way for me to enjoy the shows I like at a time that is convenient to me. However my current Comcast DVR is less than reliable. I’ve had to delete and recreate my season recordings (that’s a Season Pass for you Tivo users) because they randomly just stop working. Which I of course do not discover until the latest episode of Chuck has already come and gone.

Living where I do, I also don’t have the luxury of OnDemand. Which would supplant my DVR fetish when it comes to watching TV. I mean think about it. With OnDemand you wouldn’t have to configure all those pesky recording options and worry about what to do if you want to watch a live show while two others are being recorded. That is, if your DVR comes with dual tuners. If it doesn’t…then you should retire the device and spare the poor hamster that powers the archaic thing.

It was a situation just like I described when I happened to hear about Hulu. This is a site(still in beta) where you can watch both old and new television shows with surprisingly little commercial interruption. The interface is clean and the show selection is getting better every day. They already have my current new show selection up and running (Chuck, Heroes, Bionic Woman). They also have a lot of old favorites like Airwolf, The A-Team, and the original Twilight Zone. It’s as simple as logging in, clicking the episode you want, and watching the show.

I spent the last day and a half watching Tin Man, Chuck, and Airwolf. I have literally been at my laptop for many many hours watching TV. For a 15.4 inch widescreen monitor and my wireless network connection, the strain was very light. I was able to watch the shows with no discernable stutter or degradation in video quality. The commercial breaks number about the same as they do on the air, but the breaks are only a single commercial between 15 and 30 seconds. How’s that for nice? No, you cannot fast forward or pause during a commercial…but for the mildness of the marketing incursions, I’ll gladly replace my DVR with my laptop for my TV fix….assuming I can get everything happily showing over my 50″ plasma and running through my home theater sound system.

If I manage to get all of that working, I’ll let you know how it sounds and looks over equipment a little more tuned to video playback than my Dell Inspiron. But everything I’ve seen up until now is how I think Internet Television should be done. Now if I can just find out where they hid episode 3 of Chuck….