Blu-Ray or HD DVD – doesn’t matter…
15
Mar1
Mar1
With the official end to the format war and Blu-Ray looking like the winner I started thinking about why it doesn’t matter.
The interweb is full of proclamations claiming Sony’s Blu-Ray format is the future of our mind-numbing in home entertainment.
I just don’t see it. See my review of some of the popular download services.
The number of people with High Definition TVs is still not that high and the number of people with Blu-Ray DVD players is even closer to rock bottom. (I know my parents make at least 1 consumer in the world).Not to say it isn’t an enjoyable setup to have, but the fact remains most people just down have the moolah or the interest in this kind of equipment.
While the format war is over, and Blu-Ray marches on, I think by the time the average household catches up Broadband access and bandwidth will have reached acceptable numbers to provide every household with High Definition movies without a player at all, but instead in a file format that can be played from cheap Media Centers, TIVO and Extenders (or Apple TV if you fell for that.)
Xbox live, and others, already provide downloads of HD content to be watched on users TVs. I think the number of these users will grow a lot faster then people looking to use a more physical format like Blu-Ray or the now obsolete HD DVD.
The format war will have moved on to file formats and hopefully we can all agree on an open portable format and by that time the Movie industry will have let go of its grip on obsolete licensing strategies.
Let’s have some crab legs while we wait for this whole thing to sort itself out!
Amazon Unbox – Ruler of the Digital Media Empire
14
Mar4
Mar4
I have found myself frequenting the “Browse Instant” feature on Netflix and purchasing a lot of movie downloads the Amazon Unbox. (sidenote: if you don’t use Amazon mp3, to get DRM free music downloads, you should.)
Both services have a large and constantly growing catalog of titles that include both Movies and TV shows. Both work about the same, but vary in rules and restrictions.
To use Amazon Unbox – you first have to install the “Amazon Unbox Video” player. This application managers your downloads and allows you to view your purchases full screen on you computer.
In addition, you can setup up multiple download ’sites’ and link them to your Amazon account. This lets you download a movie to your computer at home, while sitting at your desk at work. Pretty cool.
Unbox definitely wins the crown for movie/Tv show choices. 
It has a lot more New Releases being added on a regular basis, but they aren’t free or free with a membership like Netflix’s Browse Instant. Even though they aren’t free, you can rent movies from Unbox for rates competitive with video stores or choose to purchase them outright for a cost usually much lower than a DVD.
The biggest quirk with Unbox is the restriction that once you start watching a rental it has to be watched within 24 hours. Why? What if I get interrupted? You can keep them for 30 days as long as you don’t start watching them, but after you start the movie, say good bye to it. This is a strange restriction that I expect will change since it is just confusing and complicated.
By far the biggest advantage that Unbox has over any other service, including Netflix is the intergration with Windows Media Center and Windows Media Center Extenders. If I download a Movie to my PC from Unbox, I can watch my movies through my Xbox 360 Media Center, which is where I watch TV and DVDs, so it makes sense. I am not restricted to just the proprietary player provided by Amazon. While I don’t own a TIVO – Unbox is available as an add on that works with your set top TIVO as well.
Lastly, you can choose to download a Handheld (iPod or Zune) friendly format in addition to the original download so you can take your Unbox purchases with you on the go!
Even though Unbox is very heavy in features and friendliness, I do like Netflix “Browse Instant” for a few reason too. Netflix “Browse Instant” integrates with your Netflix Queue so you can quickly see what is available in your queue to watch instantly and Netflix also makes suggestions for you based on your ratings. The Netflix Instant catalog seems a lot slimmer and slower growing then Unbox, but still has a lot of decent movies to watch.
The “Browse Instant” feature is based on an hourly quota per month, depending on your membership plan – but is good for at least a few movies a month and is available at no extra cost if you have a membership.
Besides the slight complication in how many movies you can watch per month, the only real drawback is portability. You have to use the Netflix player right now. You don’t have the option to use your TIVO or Windows Media Center, which is where most people would like to watch them.
On a positive note, I received a survey from Netflix about this very topic which makes me hopeful that someday in the near-distant future I will be able to browse my Netflix Queue from Windows Media Center and just click “Watch Now”. No more mailers no more browsers, just my movies where I want them when I want them.
Until then – I will continue using both services, but as of today I would vote for Unbox every time to be the best more online rentals.
Zune 80 Review: "Don’t Call Me Radio, Unit 91."
11
Mar0
Mar0
As I mentioned last week, I finally broke down and replaced my old workhorse iRiver H340 which had to be the most durable player ever made. I had dropped that thing several times while playing and it never skipped or froze, ever. However, it had its laundry list of problems.
Enough about that, my new Zune Original arrived on Monday, two days early! Never hurts to get a surprise package. I was quite satisfied with my Super Troopers reference and the appropriate Jam Box logo.
So, with as much lipstick applied to the Zune’s shiny exterior, I wondered if it would all be a distraction from what was really going on.
I fired it up for the first time and the battery was mostly charged, which is a huge plus. I didn’t have to wait the standard 1-8 hours to play with my new toy.
The first plug-in of the device causes the Zune software to prompt you for mandatory updates and then causes several restarts, relatively harmless and quick.
I have about 3500 songs that required uploading, and I was super excited to watch it chug through the sync process since my
iRiver H340 never had a working Sync feature – no matter how many times I tried….
Sadly, for reasons unknown the Zune didn’t make it through in one shot. It got song #2211 and from then on out was on a Zune themed lunch break. Every song the software attempted to send to the player, would fail for “Reasons Unknown” – yikes. Better luck next time.
Anyways – I stayed calm and let the zune software error for the last 1300 or so failed attempts at transfering a file.
Once it finished – I followed the troubleshooting steps and unplugged my Zune, shutdown the software, shutdown the Zune, and finally reconnected my Zune.
I am happy to report this time around it did finish syncing although the numbers in the Device Status screen on the Zune software page were way off…. oh well. I later added a few podcasts and everything works great! All said and done I think it took about 2 hours to do the initial sync.
There are too many variables here to blame just the Zune for the problem I encountered, could have been my computer or perhaps the weather. Who knows, so as long as it doesn’t happen again, I will assume it was just that the initial sync was so large.
I setup wireless sync next and that worked first try – just had to enter my router credentials in the Zune software and I was on my way.
Everything else works as advertised. I like the “Squircle” control a lot. It takes a few swipes to get used to the sensitivity, but makes browsing through my library of songs a breeze.
The screen is beautiful for watching Video Podcast clips of “The Soup”. The quality and resolution are fantastic and the screen is surprisingly bright.
The headphones are really clear and crisp. The magnetic backs make storing them really nice since the cords won’t tangle. Not to mention the braided cable!
I haven’t encountered the problem with the Zune turning off at random (due to static electricity). There is an issue with battery life in stand-by, but it is easily avoided by turning the Zune off each time you are done using it. (Hold down on the squircle and hold the back button for 5 seconds). It takes about 4 extra seconds for the Zune to come back on next time, but saves ‘yer battery.
Revisiting a recurring Facebook Photo Exploit
10
Mar2
Mar2
A while back – actually about 8 months ago, I wrote a post about what I think is a major privacy hole in Facebook’s Photo service. It never seemed to pick up any traction, but maybe people didn’t quite get what I was saying. I still think this is a major problem and a major flaw in the Facebook Photo Service, so I decided to revisit the topic once again.
PROBLEM: I can see FULL photo albums of people I am not friends with on Facebook.
ILLUSTRATION:The photo, from You, Me and Dupree which illustrates the classic third wheel scenario, is a perfect definition of the problem that exists in Facebook’s Photo service.
The illustration is meant to serve as guide to your understanding of why this is a major problem in Facebook.
SCENARIO -
- Dupree and ‘You’ (Matt Dillon) are long time friends from college and beyond. Both have Faecbook profiles to keep in touch with old friends.
- Now, ‘You’ and his girlfriend, ‘Me’ (Kate Hudson) are also friends and have Facebook profiles.
- Important: Dupree and ‘Me’(Kate Hudson) are NOT friends on Facebook.
- Now, here is the problem – Dupree is cycling through old photos on his computer and finds some hilarious pictures of ‘You’ doing really stupid things that you know find embarrasing. Dupree decides to create an album called “‘You’ doing stupid things”.
- Dupree is smart, so he sets his privacy settings on the album preventing other people from seeing these photos.
- However, here is the problem, ‘You’ (again, Matt Dillon) sees these pictures have been uploaded in his ‘Mini-Feed’ next time he logs in. He is rehashing the old memories and on one of the photos decides to comment. “Man how dumb was I? Hilarious!”. Comment posted.
- Now, ‘Me’(Kate Hudson) logs in. On here ‘mini-feed’ she can see the picture that her boyfried ‘You’(Matt Dillon) has commented on. Not a big deal, he commented on it, so now it is visible to people he knows.
- PROBLEM!!! – If ‘Me’(Kate Hudson) clicks on the image, she can now cycle through every picture in the album – an album by somebody she is not friends with and could never view their profile or pictures otherwise. This is a huge problem and a flaw. There is absolutely no enforcement of the privacy settings if a person ‘twice-removed’ from the owner of the photos enters the album this way.
If the metaphor is confusing – try it out yourself and see what I mean:
If the metaphor I provided here is hard to follow, I decided to post step by step instructions of how your privacy is being invaded on a daily basis.
- Log in to facebook.
- Find a friend of yours.. A friend who has recently commented on someone else’s photo. The important thing here is ’someone’ means someone you aren’t friends with, and you also don’t belong to the same network. (i.e. you can’t view their profile).
- In your friend’s news feed, click the thumbnail of the photo they commented on. It will take you to that photo. (In my opinion, this is already breaking the privacy rules).
- Once you are done laughing at the no doubt hilarious, mischievous or embarrassing photo your friend commented on, click the photo. It will take you to the next photo in that album. Click again and again, until you have been through the entire album.
- Next, wonder why on earth you could see a strangers photos.
- Last, be concerned that people all over the place are seeing things, that Facebook tells people ‘only your friends’ will see this.
The reason, I know this is an exploit, security hole, bug, or what have you is that while in that album – try to click “Back to Album” – it won’t take you to the album, it will take you the ‘you two aren’t friends’ view of that person. Also, the link to go back to the album and person’s profile normally in the lower right-hand side disappears. So there is definitely some strange behavior going on here.
Will Facebook fix this as fast as they did the ‘Advanced Search’ issue? Let’s hope. Is this old news I just missed the boat on? I don’t think so.
In the meantime, you may want to think about what you are uploading to Facebook – because your friends might not like it if they knew, regardless of what Facebook tells them, that total strangers, potential employers, or even their parole officers may be able to see it.
Leave me a comment if you try this out. Let me know if it worked or not.
The dirty tricks of food photographers ||| Photocritic blog
9
Mar0
Mar0
Photocritic.org has a fantastic overview of just how c0mplicated and bizarre the world of Food Photography really is. From the obvious use of a blow torch for caramelizing and creating a seared effect to the more bizarre Motor oil used in place of syrup or this technical definition of the use of cardboard.
Sturdy cardboard squares, used to make little raw (except for the blow-torched edges) ground beef-patty-platforms (with the help of the toothpicks) to keep the fatty patties from mooshing the frilly lettuce.
For the full story check out:
The dirty tricks of food photographers ||| Photocritic blog
In the meantime be sure to keep the motor oil out of the fridge, just in case.
Fresh New Look
9
Mar0
Mar0
To beat the Minnesota Extend-o Winter Funk that is this March… I decided to do a little spring cleaning on the ol’ blog. I have simplified the layout hoping it makes things for you, the reader, a little more enjoyable. If not, I guess that is your problem….
Oh yeah – and most likely I will keep tweaking the layout – since it never seems to be just what I planned.
Hmmm… Food
9
Mar1
Mar1
A while back I had been taking pictures of food I had cooked. Unfortunately, the hardest part of ‘home food photography’ is the fact that your food gets cold/old and usually the photographs were of whatever I was to eat for dinner. So, I haven’t taken any in a while – but in the process of updating http://10gallonhat.net I am adding these back. There are a couple that I think really turned out well. I think the two Blueberry, Ginger and White Chocolate chunk cookies turned out really well. Take a peek at the oldies but goodies below… or maybe they are new to you – either way – enjoy!
Sausage Rabbits
8
Mar0
Mar0
Always looking for ways to keep lunch interesting I came across a great blog… The photographs are artistically done and the ideas are great as well. The ideas seem to be mainly aimed at keeping kids interested in lunch – so maybe I’m just a big kid.
The site is called “Lunch in a box : Building a better bento”.
Lunch in a box is full of great ideas and tips for lunching success… but I have to admit what really drove to write this was the Sausage Rabbits.
My own mom was responsible for some of the greatest school lunches.. but I don’t remember ever having sausage in the shape of animals it may be made from… nice!
Photo Series v1
8
Mar0
Mar0
I have been running through some of my photographs from the last couple years and noticed an interesting trend. I have a lot of photos that don’t stand out on their own, but look great incorporated as part of a series of photographs. Not sure how this happened… but I like it.
Zune-ariffic
6
Mar0
Mar0
Finally broke down and upgrade my tank of an MP3 player which my current iRiver player is bigger then most people’s microwave. Plus, Tally had the charger for dinner one night and the battery barely lasted for the daily commute on the bus.
Anyway – I download the software for Windows and importing all my music… turns out you get a music card – whatever it’s for (maybe I’m just too old to know or care (sadly)). It is cool though – shows what I have been listening too and I added some of my old photography to the background.
My Zune is decked out with 80’s style boom-boxes and Super Trooper references – now I just have to wait for it to arrive…..
10 Gallon Gallery
