A Collection of Daily Wisdom by Dennis Sylvester Hurd since September 2003.

I get a little angry that I can stream lots of TV content to my computer monitor but cannot watch it on the big screen which is just a few feet away. I know, it'd be possible to purchase a graphics card with HDMI output but, come to think of it, both inputs on my Toshiba big screen are already connected to devices.

Most content that's on my computer can be run through TVersity and the Sony PS3. That's one way to show stuff on the regular TV. Unfortunately, most all live, web video plays in Adobe Flash Player 9 and that's not yet supported on the PS3. If it were, it'd make things much easier. After all, if these concepts are ever going to go mainstream they have to be easy. Or at least the process is going to have to be easier than it is now.

I could wonder why I'm so excited about TV through the net as I already own a satellite box that receives high-definition and is able to save shows on its internal hard disk. I simply think I'd be happier initiating the process myself. I want to watch a wider selection of media completely free from broadcast scheduling.



Click the image above to see what the popular programs on Hulu are. If you're outside the US and wish to watch anything on Hulu, take a look at the initial entry from last week.

Labels: PS3, television

I'm going to think of it as a very expensive remote. I am not a game player, but my Sony PS3 just seemed to cry out for some company. I use the PlayStation 3 to play Blu-ray discs and increasingly as a media server. Its name on my home network is The Black Box.

I read something about how a PlayStation Portable (PSP) can be used to access its larger stationery cousin. I had sort of fallen in love with Sony's XrossMediaBar. The XMB is just a simple graphical interface on these devices. I wanted to see it on a smaller screen too.



So I ran to the Superstore and bought a PSP. Imagine, I'm not even that keen on games! I did, however, have to pick up a $20 copy of Daxter just so I could see a real example of the neat little proprietary-format optical disc. Sony tried hard to sell movies in that format but it never took wings. I will never buy a film on one as I can rip a DVD into mpeg4 file. I sure wish I hadn't needed to also pick up another of Sony's other proprietary inventions, the Memory Stick. I already have enough SD memory around the house.

I love the device as it's wifi capable. I went down to an unsecured network connection on the first floor of our building and turned on my PS3 from there. I was able to listen to an MP3 file on my computer's external hard drive. I can have my whole 40GB music collection whereever there's a wifi connection. It wasn't too long ago that I rambled on in one of my so called Furturecasts about my ideas of networking in the future. It has already happened.

Labels: Internet, PS3, PSP, sharing

My new class doesn't start until next Monday. After last week's weird and wacky weather, things really started to look up today. In retrospect, even though it's only six o'clock, I cannot believe I spent so much time in front of this screen. I suppose I have to come to terms with the fact, I'm rather addicted to computers. As I'll be turning 49 years old in July, you'd think I would know myself well by now.

I guess it really wasn't a surprise to realize I am fascinated with PCs. I first spent hard-earned cash on a Radio Shack TRS-80 in 1980. The tasks I was able to do in those days weren't very inspiring by today's standards. I recall making a simple BASIC program that simply added one plus one and showed the result on the black and white screen. Then, it would add one more and print again. I let it run overnight and I couldn't believe the device had made it into the hundreds of thousands by morning.

Technology marches on. Today, I was playing with my computer, network, and PS3. I was using TVersity to make my PS3 into a media server. I downloaded video from the Internet through a BitTorrent. Moving around 600 megabyte files is probably something I wouldn't have thought possible when my Radio Shack had 16K of RAM. The fact most of these files were destined for a 16x9 format 42" LCD television screen, would've undoubtedly sounded like science fiction too.

Here's my belated tribute to the recently deceased futurist who lived his last fifty years in Sri Lanka:

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
-- Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008)
Profiles of The Future, 1961

This show is not a video file. It's a live program streamed through
the net from a Sri Lankan TV network to this aparment in
New Westminster, BC.

Labels: computers, Internet, PS3, sci-fi, Sri Lanka 2006, television

Today, I'll only add a couple of techie things that could nearly go without saying. They involve:

The Windows Vista SP1 Upgrade

My PlayStation 3 Upgrade to V2.2

I updated Vista to Service Pack 1 at least a week ago. I hadn't had a lick of trouble with Vista before the 440 megabyte download and have had none since. With a sufficiently capable hardware, I wouldn't fear advising anyone run the newest OS from Microsoft. The software's bad press may have more to do with people being politically correct (by being anit-MS) than any actual trouble with the code. My update was mostly a non-event except for one fact. After the 45 minutes of installation, the computer didn't start up with the built-in web server online. I do have to add that all the previous configuration data was there, I just needed to open the ISS and click start.



Earlier this week, the other upgrade went without much fanfare as well. Back when I first talked about buying a PlayStation as a Blu-ray player, it was because none of the existing players for sale were ready for the implementation of profile 2.0. In the most recent update, my PS3 suddenly gained this as a new feature. Boy, I'm the first on the block for this one! That means it can access the addition of Internet features on a BD. Since the first release with any interactivity isn't due for another ten days, that's pretty much a moot point at the moment. One useful enhancement is that if one stops viewing a DVD or Blu-ray disc, the player remembers the exact location. Even if one removes the disc in the interim, it'll remember. That's useful, except I generally watch things straight through anyway.

Some people think that upgrading is a hassle. On the other hand, I tend to salute companies who make firmware improvements rather than attempting to sell a whole new piece of equipment for each baby-step forward.

Labels: PS3, software, Windows

I'm beginning to understand. It wasn't until I got an mp3 player that I discovered podcasting and how it shifts the whole paradigm of radio. Summarily, a few days ago, I downloaded free TVersity software and I'm beginning to understand the future of television and video.



TVersity allows media to be streamed to my Sony PlayStation 3 via the home network. I first thought it'd be useful as I could listen to any of 8000+ music files through my home theatre system. I'd need not load them via my computer anymore. Of course, also being able to read thousands of personal photo archives off my external drive and display them on the larger, living room Toshiba screen promised to be fun too.

I had never seriously considered video podcasting as promising technology. After all, I'd not want to watch the tiny screen of a portable device, I thought. Now, I realize how useful Internet delivery of broadcasting may eventually become. With a Canadian Internet provider, it's not possible to watch U.S. television over IP. The networks block access. I'm especially disappointed in not being able to participate in www.hulu.com. However, the Internet is going to be a major means of delivery sooner than some might believe. A dozen years ago it was best practice not to create a web page that had over 50K of photos and text. Then, when radio first started arriving by IP, I wondered if we'd ever have sufficient bandwidth for such an extravagance.

I find it a little ironic that I'm enamoured by high definition content via satellite or Blu-ray but that I'm still so willing to watch grainy video on the 42" LCD. This playing around seems so refreshingly pioneering though. Yesterday, being able to watch live television from Sri Lanka was magic, although the teledrama was little better than a slide show of blurry images on the big screen.

I had been very skeptical of those who dismiss the importance of new high-definition discs. These people have written that Blue-ray's lifetime will be limited as the last physical medium. Their proclamation about the immediate future being in downloads seemed so pie-in-the-sky. Haven't those pundits witnessed how much time it takes just to download a movie trailer? I do admit I felt more than a little thrilled when throwing video around the network though. Demand will guarantee broad enough broadband. I'm a reluctant convert.

Labels: Internet, podcasts, PS3, technology, television

First, if you'd asked me when I was 20 years old, I would've probably made a guess. In my mind, the only possible meaning for the term fanboy, might have related to a visualization from some grainy, black and white movie I once saw on TV as a kid. The film was set in a bygone era in a far-away land. There was a young, male servant whose sole job was to continuously pull on a rope. This rope was attached to cloth and its movement created a cooling breeze. So that fanboy was essentially acting as air conditioner for a very wealthy king in a very opulent palace.

Okay, I'm an ESL teacher, so a more recent usage with which I've become familiar deals with language. Some of my students use an acronym to remember the coordinating conjunctions of the English language. You know, those are the little words that help things stick together: For, And, Neither, But, Or, Yet, and So. I've been teaching English to speakers of other languages for decades, but I still avoid talking about grammar as much as possible. When painted into a corner, I will default to a descriptive attempt. I simply abhor prescriptive grammarians though. Regardless, I learned the second type of FANBOYS from students who've obviously studied a lot of it.

Most recently, I've run across the term due to a new interest in gaming consoles. The term has probably been around for about 25 years although its widespread use is more recent and has broadened. I have witnessed the rantings and ravings of this type of fanboy on the Internet. Basically, true to the Wikipedia entry, they have been written by adolescent boys who defend a particular console brand or game. Perhaps because of the content they're used to seeing, they are ready to defend their opinions to near death! For example, look at the comments appearing under the story on this blorge.com page. I suppose I should be encouraged by all the flaming just because it's good to see that kids can get so worked-up about anything. You'll have to forgive me though. I bought a PlayStation 3 not because I'm a fanboy, but due to the fact I enjoy watching Blu-ray movies.

Labels: PS3

I kept dying. My Playstation 3 came bundled with one game. It was fun racing around MotorStorm's dirt track but I have to be honest; I didn't take much time to really put the game through its paces. I found it disheartening when involved in a serious enough accident to cause death. The screen slows down and one's flying body bounces around pitifully. It doesn't really hurt though. There's not much to prevent one from racing around rather foolishly and recklessly.

I wanted to see something else and have been interested in graphic adventure games since King's Quest I on the PC. Although amazing in 1986, Sir Graham appeared as a little stick figure on the CGA cards of the day. Last week, I stopped by the Canadian Superstore as they had a newer adventure game on sale. I wanted it.



I picked up Uncharted - Drake's Fortune. There was about a half hour over the weekend when I had some extra time. I began the game and so far it has more than met my expectations. In fact, the graphics I saw would have to be categorized as stunning. I've only been on the island for a little while but the lush vegetation is very impressive in high definition 720P. A waterfall was pretty enough, so that I simply had to walk up the river and take a better look. The storyline was engrossing and has made me want to get further involved.

I can hardly wait to take occasional extra minutes to explore more.

Labels: games, PS3

A week ago I spent over $500 a Sony PS3 essentially for its capability to play Blu-ray high-defintion movies. I also checked what it costs to rent a movie at a Rogers Video store nowadays. I'd not been inside the New Westminster branch for years due to joining zip.ca. It is an online movie rental company similiar to a Canadian version of Netflix. A cheerful, Rogers counter clerk said renting a single movie cost $6 something. Then, he added that all Blu-ray disks are only one-day rentals. "I see. I'll wait to get my Blu-ray movies through Zip," I said. I left.

I was willing to wait as we pay about $2.50 per disc and there's no late fees when renting by post. I will probably never enter that Rogers again. Is there any irony in my spending a half K on a player but then refusing to cough up $7 for a rental? Nah, I didn't think so, either.

If you've ever been involved in online movie rental, you know that one creates a list of movies desired. The company then sends off the next available disc as soon as the previously returned movie has reached them. At any particular moment we may have fifty or sixty movies in the queue. So, last weekend, I modified our existing list so titles available in borth formats would ship on Blu-ray.

Of the dozen or so Blu-ray discs on the Zip list, just one arrived in the mail box today. It's a bit embarrassing to admit that the first-ever Blu-ray title that'll be viewed on our TV is Disney's High School Musical 2 (2007). That certainly doesn't sound very butch. Perhaps it's a good way to break in the PlayStation 3 though. Also, it's okay, as 3:10 to Yuma (2007), Rescue Dawn (2006), Saw IV(2007), and Resident Evil: Extinction (2007) are also on their eventual Blu-ray way.

Labels: HDTV, movies, musical, PS3, zip.ca

THE FUTURE: 1950 STYLE
Eventually, automated homes such as those described by Ray Bradbury will exist. As of today, I am one step closer to the part where the house plays music. Let's forget about the exact scenario of the short story from The Martian Chronicles as I'd rather leave the fear of nuclear devastation for another blog entry. Also it's important to note that he wrote this short story fifty-eight years ago. Smart houses are assuredly taking longer to come to fruition than my childish notions would've predicted.

SERVING MEDIA
I'm thinking about There Will Come Soft Rains, as I have thousands of .mp3 and .wma files on an external hard drive near my computer. I use it for the collection and backing up important info. from my main drive. As discovered on Saturday the new Playstation 3 will play these networked songs through the built-in media server in Microsoft's MediaPlayer 11. My PS3 lacks a direct DTS output for stereo files, unlike my computer's sound card. However, there's something quite simple and satisfying about making a selection on the large TV screen. It just feels right to pick music with the same remote I use when watching a DVD.

GETTING IT TOGETHER
Many people already have some sort of home network today. Most are wireless and used just to get the Internet on a notebook computer without a plug. This could be a wonderful basis for a smart house. The problem is that most of our consumer electronics products do not get along. Most of the devices are not designed for interoperability. In order to make any of them work together one must work too damned hard.

TO KNOW ME IS TO LOVE ME
I envision a day when, as one walks into the house, all gadgets will ask permission to connect to the home's network. For example, I should be able to listen to a podcast on a visitor's iPod. If the system were clever enough, a graphic representing the temporary device would automatically appear on a screen showing the current technology environment. As well as the calling-card information previously entered by the visitor, the system would recognize the unprotected media on the device. I'd simply be able to direct the system to play the podcast.

FIGHTING IN A FUTURE
This is a little more complex than Ray Bradbury's circuits and tapes in the walls. However, I can easily think of a good topic for a new, short story. Let's assume that all the system devices on our imaginary network have a priority on the system. What if various devices started fighting for supremacy in the heirarchy? Every iPod Nano lusts for power, you know. Somehow, that'd make for an interesting read.

Labels: computers, futurecast, Mediaplayer, podcasts, PS3, sci-fi, technology

A Sony Playstation 3 can use its local network in order to play files shared under Windows MediaPlayer. Who knew?

Labels: Mediaplayer, PS3

Cool .. another toy. Being that a "Leap Day" only occurs every four years I thought I'd make it special. My new Sony Playstation 3 is downloading a movie trailer through the same Internet connection as I'm using here.

Being in the over 40 camp, I'm the demographic with enough cash to actually afford one of Sony's little, overpriced boxes. It certainly wouldn't have made sense for me to get one had it not contained a Blu-ray drive. Sorry Microsoft, I used to be a fanboy but times change.

I snapped up one of the few remaining old 80 GB bundles with game, MotorStorm. I can't imagine myself ever getting interested in First Person Shooters. Some of the adventure titles might be okay.

I had to put the slick, stylish box through some paces by seeing if it could play my monster collection of old +R and +RW DVD discs. It seems to handle even the old copies. Still, I'm contemplating walking down to a video store just to rent something on Blu-ray for a test run. In fact, I'll end now .. and do just that.

Labels: movies, PS3, technology

I grew up in a working-class home but we had all we needed and much more. It was back in the days when one income was enough and my mother was a stay-at-home mom. Wasn't the term, housewife? It's a little sad that's a choice no longer possible for most families today.

The inspiration for today's entry occurred when we were flying back from California earlier in the month. The Alaska Air plane was packed with every seat occupied. Jay and I sat across the isle as the two seats closer to the 737's windows were filled to each side of us. A mom and dad sat next to Jay. I sat near the kids who obviously wanted to sit near the windows (and away from their folks). There was a boy who I'd estimate being about 13 and his sister was younger by a year or two. The family was obviously returning from a trip that included Disneyland as they were wearing the clothes and carrying the swag.

I also saw Mickey, the rather scary walk-around one, on the screens of both their digital cameras. These youngsters were gadgeted up with devices galore. As well as the means to take photos, they also each had iPods. The boy was playing with a PSP and the girl some other sort of specific electronic game. I'm sure all these toys plug into their own computers at home. There's certainly a whole lot more than simply buying clothes and paying the dental bills for these parents.

I have been following Sony Playstation 3 news on the Internet. I'm trying to figure out when the time is right to buy into the product lineup. Apparently, there is no new, upgraded version due out in the next few months. It was announced today that the 80 GB model bundle will seemingly be replaced with a different game and replacement controllers but the price will remain at $499. I've seen that the average prices for new games for the device are in the neighbourhood of $50 to $60. It seems like providing what's necessary for children in this day and age must break the bank.

It must cost a lot to raise kids. When I was small in the 60's, there were far fewer products to own. No wonder why moms have to work nowadays!

Labels: flying, opinions, PS3, technology

I'll admit I can remember Pong on a home TV. Yet, as mentioned in my eJournal and images before, most of my game playing experience occurred when friends and I ran an arcade during the summers of my college days. That was the late 1970's and early 1980's. I remember shooting at tanks from inside a virtual world of vector graphics in Atari's Battlezone. This would've been the original, stand-up cabinet where the player looked through a periscope. I knew that even thin green lines in 3-D sure seemed to beat out the coloured, but flat, images on the Pacman machines.



For years and years after that I didn't play games.

I did toy with an original xbox which is still in a closet here somewhere. We used it to play DVDs for a while and I spent a few hours impressed with Voodoo Vince.

Today, I spent most of the morning looking at trailers for the Sony PS3. This time things seem right for a fit to the Onkyo home theatre sound and the 42" Toshiba LCD. Although I'm thinking about buying one primarily for playing Blu-ray movies, if it's all connected, I will probably end up exploring a few game titles too. The Playstation 3 isn't known for having many good games at present: however, I expect the number will increase through 2008.



Yikes, we've gone beyond basic, wire frame graphics in the last 28 years, haven't we?

Labels: Bret, games, Joel, PS3, Sunapee, The Harbor Gameroom

High definition TV is delicious. For months and months my only hint of what it really looks like is through the high-def satellite channels of Bell ExpressVu.

My up-converting DVD player can provide a picture which is marginally better than standard TV, but it sure ain't the real McCoy. I've commented with disgust on the annoying format war for true high-definition discs. This week, that battle has apparently ended with Sony's Blu-ray as the victor. The competitor, Toshiba has officially thrown in the proverbial towel. I'll settle for this scenario as long as it means an increasingly quick proliferation of mainstream HD.

The problem presently preventing widespread adoption is cost. The cheapest Blu-ray player is going for around $399 at local electronics suppliers. Many of these players are not even very future-proof as they do not provide the Net access necessary to implement BD Live (Profile 2.0). In fact just about the only safe bet if one were purchasing today would be to go with a Sony PlayStation 3. It has built in wireless and a hard drive.

For the same $399 one can have a machine with a lot more flexibility than a stand-alone Blu-ray player. Putting a Blu-ray disc in the gaming console was considered unwise and costly when the PS3 first shipped. Now however, it appears as if it was the Trojan horse that stealthily helped push Sony's HD format to victory.

I might be convinced to go purchase a new PlayStation 3 this weekend, but production has stopped on the higher end, 80 GB $499 model. I must wait until the new unit shows up as it may have 120 or 160 GB for the same price. People can only speculate on the configuration as Sony is notoriously tight-lipped about unrealeased products.

Labels: games, HDTV, Internet, PS3, television

Okay, I've been blogging for over four years and I have never, ever just pasted in one of those 'cutie' emails that one sometimes receives. You know who I mean. Everybody has at least one acquaintance or family member who frequently sends out junk to a huge list of people. I got this and I figured it does sort of fit here.

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were when they were growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning .. uphill BOTH ways .. Yadda, yadda, yadda

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!

But now that... I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today. You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a damn Utopia!

And I hate to say it, but you kids today, you don't know how good you've got it!

I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have the Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the damn library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalog!!

There was no email! ! We had to actually write somebody a letter .. with a pen! Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take like a week to get there!

There were no MP3's or Napsters! You wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the damn record store and shoplift it yourself! Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ'd usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up!

We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that's it! And we didn't have fancy Caller ID boxes either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your mom, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, a collections agent, you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!

We didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600 with games like "Space Invaders" and "Asteroids" and the graphics sucked! Your guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen forever! And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE!

When you went to the movie theater there no such thing as stadium seating! All the seats were the same height! If a tall guy or some old broad with a hat sat in front of you and you couldn't see, you were just screwed!

Sure, we had cable television, but back then that was only like 15 channels and there was no onscreen menu and no remote control! You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your ass and walk over to the TV to change the channel and there was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday morning. Do you hear what I'm saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little bastards!

And we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heat something up we had to use the stove or go build a friggin' fire ... Imagine that! If we wanted popcorn, we had to use that stupid Jiffy Pop thing and shake it over the stove forever like an idiot.

That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled!

You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980!

Regards,
The Over-30 Crowd

Labels: lists, opinions, PS3