Yesterday’s Guesses

Yesterday afternoon, I sat with a few of my colleagues in Amsterdam and we discussed what Apple was going to announce today. I wrote down our guesses and emailed them out to timestamp them.

Cxxxxx: New service that integrates movie rental/download with Front Row. Possible rebranding of iTunes into Showtime. Launch of a new iPod video with touchscreen. Steve Jobs is leaving the company. Lion King & Pearl Harbor on the iPod
Dxxxxx: New iPod with wifi access. Movies on iPod. New DRM.
Michael: Movies on iTunes. Airport for video that uses wifi to move video to near the TV.

I do believe that I made the most correct prediction.
For those so unlucky as to work with me, I have been predicting (ranting some might say) this type of move from Apple as opposed to the computer centric “home theater PC” mindset. The idea to place a fully fledged computer next to your TV. As someone that runs multiple computers in the house and has their media on a server, this is the last thing I want. Heat, sound, cable, and simply a place to put it make the HTPC a bad idea.
Microsoft tried some thing kind of like this with Windows Media Center PC but got caught up in their own rules. If you had a Media Center PC, there were extenders that allowed you do basically do what iTV will do. The problem is that Microsoft made it extremely hard to actually use Media Center Edition. Basically you had to buy a whole new computer to get the software. There are ways to get the software now without a new computer, but it’s far from easy.
Apple got two things right that Microsoft got wrong. First, they give away iTunes for free on both Mac and Windows. Microsoft, best case, will sell you the software for $109 for Windows only. Second, Apple had the content people wanted ready to go. Microsoft did not.
Let’s compare the score cards:
Apple – Free software for Mac & PC, online media store with music, television, and movies
Windows – $109 software for PC only, online media store with music
If Microsoft really wants to compete when Zune (their supposed iPod killer) is released, they should included the features of Media Center into Windows Media Player and release a Mac version of Windows Media Player and allow Zune, Media Center Extenders, and Xbox 360s to attach to it. That would level the playing field. I doubt that Microsoft will do this since they specialize in doing things only halfway right.
Apple is willing to fulling commit to new ideas and take on the risk of walking away from their existing safety zone. Microsoft has not been willing to do this. The biggest change they have made since releasing XP is to launch the Xbox. They have done a great job, but they seem to lack the will to really go in for the kill and make the Xbox the dominant machine in the home. Their focus on PCs running Windows in the home is keeping them from achieving the larger goal of Microsoft in the home.
This is the key point Apple gets and Microsoft misses.
Look, I like Microsoft and think they have some of the brighest people in the industry. But they really need to take the gloves off and let their product people stretch the limits, even if it changes some of their core focus on selling copies of the OS. The fact that they are walking away from the Mac is silly. They should be embracing the new Mac line with a version of Windows specifically for the Intel Mac. Windows Media Player should be just as available and useful on a Mac as on a PC.
Best case scenario, a media war between Apple and Microsoft for the living room with escalating volleys of neat new technologies. In that case, the consumer wins.

Serious Security

I’m sitting in Frankfurt Airport on my way home from Amsterdam. After landing in Frankfurt, I went through Passport Control and then had to go through another security checkpoint.
This checkpoint was serious.
I was told to remove everything from my pockets, including wallet, passport, everything. Case, computer, and my shoes also went through the x-ray. I was then hand searched instead of going through a metal detector. In fact, there were no metal detectors at all. Everyone was hand searched. The hand search was extremely thorough. I’ve been searched by the police before, and this was even more complete than that. They checked everywhere including inside my belt and the soles of my feet. Most of the time I feel it would be trivial to slip something by security, but not this time.
Once that was complete, they went through my bags and found a small bottle of saline and another of eye drops. Both are OK to travel with, but they made me squirt them on my hand to show them what they looked like.
After finding the liquides, they then pulled out all my electronic gear to look at closely. Power supplly, cables, etc. It all came out for inspection. Next, the pulled my mobile phone out and walked over to the explosives detector. They swabbed down the phone to check for any explosives.
Only after that exhaustive search was I allowed to proceed to my plane. Remember, this is after my first security screening in Amsterdam. Also, everyone was was undergoing the same process.
Usually I feel that airport security is more theater than actual security, but not so today. The security at Frankfurt Airport was rigorous and yet the staff carried thing sout pleasantly, explaining to me everything as it happened.
When I think about the airport security in the US, it seems almost childlike in compairison.
OK, time to go catch my plane.

Gotta save some juice

As summer starts to wrap up, the summer electirc bills also arrive, reminding me that I need to save some electricity where I can.
As a result, I switched over the majority of the house to use compact fluorescent bulbs instead of traditional incandescent one. There was a 10% off sale at the local hardware store, so I decided to take advantage.
The energy savings are pretty huge. I replaced:
(6) 100 watt incandescent bulbs with 23 watt flourescent blubs
(8) 60 watt incandescent bulbs with 14 watt flourescent blubs
Yes, the flourescents really do only use a quarter the electricity for the same amount of light.
The only issue was with one of the fixtures where the wider base of the flourescent wouldn’t fit. I’m sure there’s a short extender I can use to solve this on my next trip to the hardware store.


So how much electricity am I really saving here? In a pure wattage reduction, the 14 new bulbs save 830 watts when on. Assuming that the bulbs are on for an average of 3 hours a day, that’s 2.49 kilowatt-hours a day. Over a year, that’s ~900 kilowatt-hours. If you look at the How Stuff Works page, you can see that you get 2,460 kilowatt-hours per ton of coal. Doing the math, that means that switching to the flourescent bulbs save 731 pounds of coal from being burned in power plants. Also, we help avoid producing air pollution from coal burning.
On the money front, we pay ~25¢ per kilowatt-hour for electricity here in California in the summer. 900 kWh * 25¢/kWh = $225 in savings. I spent about $58 on the bulbs today, so I should recoup my cost in the next 3 months.
Not bad for an hour’s work. There are still more bulbs to swap out as well. Now I seriously need to consider making a change to both our air conditioner and refrigerator, both over 20 years old.

Pluto is a Planet Protest

Last week, the International Astronomical Union ruled that Pluto was not a planet.
Obviously, they are wrong. Not one to sit around and stand for injustice, I was determined to protest this decision in public.
With help from Mister P. in making the large sign, Martin for help document, and my daughters, Zoe & Mira, for moral support, I made my protest.

Pluto is a Planet Protest from Michael Pusateri on Vimeo.



I began my protest on the street corner of Fair Oaks and Mission in South Pasadena, near my home.

Martin makes a valid point. If Pluto is vulnerable, what’s next?

I convinced this group of teenagers to help with the protest. They saw the truth in my message.

Next, Martin and I decided to spread the word into Downtown Pasadena, where there was a lot more foot traffic.

People were a little surprised but also happy and amused to see our public protest.

Overall, a hugely positive response to the protest. People were laughing and smiling constantly. Tons of horn honks, waves, and thumbs up. The one thing I didn’t expect was how tired my arms got holding the small sign over my head. Next time, I need a headmounted sign…

Hey Mr. Terrorist

Hey Mr. Terrorist. Fuck you!


I know what your thinking, “I’ve got those Americans scared to fly on airplanes.”
Wrong.
Tomorrow I’m taking my family on a long international plane flight and we aren’t scared at all. We are going to have a great time, smile, eat, drink, and laugh a lot, then come home safe and sound.
I refuse to be intimidated by your pathetic attempts to terrorize me. It will take great deal more to scare Americans than what you’ve done so far. In fact, I doubt you can really scare us. You might make us more determined or angry, but we certainly aren’t scared.
Sincerely,
An Average American

Special note to American readers:
If you are one of those nervous nellies that has their undies in a bind over the latest plots and is considering avoiding air travel due to these wingnuts, stop it.
We are Americans.
We stood up against the mightiest country on Earth to win our independence 200+ years ago.
We stood up against the Axis powers to defend the very concept of freedom in World War II.
We stood up against the Soviet Union staring down nuclear oblivion to win the Cold War.
Yes, some of our leaders have poor judgement we do some silly things like take off our shoes in airports and invade the wrong country, but the average American knows the truth. America and our founding principles will endure any assault or act against us.
So stop being afraid. Stop wringing your hands and worrying. Stop watching the fearmongering passed off as news.
When you see our Fellow Americans acting scared, it’s your duty to tell them to stop acting like children. It’s embarassing to see some of these confused people actually changing their plans out of irrational fear of these cowardly terrorists.
President Roosevelt said it best, “So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”
Life is good. Go out and live. Give the finger to the terrorists.

Zoom Movie Review

My oh my the things we do for our children.
Yesterday I took the girls to see the movie Zoom, about a group of young superheroes. I should have done a little research before heading out to the theater and avoided the movie.
The movie is basically a set of product placements strung together with a few music videos stretched out to 83 minutes. The product placement is so blatant, that characters actually visit a Wendy’s restaurant and discuss how much they like Wendy’s food how eager they are to get some. Heck, there’s even a robot character named Mr. Pibb.
Worse probably is the fact that we only get to see the young heroes use their power once or twice. Truly disappointing, even for children. Actors Tim Allen, Courteney Cox, Chevy Chase, and Rip Torn are pretty much wasted talent with this script.
The waste of acting effort and my tickes can be entirely blamed on a lackluster script tha must have been computer generated by a studio exec. Let’s see Star Talent + Cute Kids + Super Powers = Profit. Too bad they forgot to add in a Good Story.

Tie Tuesday

I read in today’s LA Times about the backlash toward casual attire at the workplace.
When I started at work a little over ten years ago, ties were common and I wore one on mosy days. Now, it seems that even socks are optional and anyone wearing a tie must be asked “Gotta big job interview?”
I like the idea of a Tie Tuesday where people are encouraged to wear a tie to work, one day a week. I’ve got a bunch of expensive silk in my closet that needs to get out more.

The $300 PC

A few months ago, I found myself in the position to buy a new computer for the girls. Over the years, I’ve built our PCs from scratch, slowly upgrading them as needed. I thought for sure, the cheapest way to get a new computer was to buy the components and put it together myself.
I was quite surprised when I found this wasn’t true.
I went to Newegg, one of the best online shopping sites for computer gear and started pricing everything out. I easily started getting the total over $450. I even looked at a Mac Mini to run Windows on, but at $599, even it was expensive in compairision. I looked at the Walmart computers, and they were cheap but fairly low power.
I checked the Dell site, and was surprised to see the Dell Dimension B110 for $299. It’s got to be bad, I thought. Not true. For a web surfing computer, the specs are impressive. 2.5 GHz Celeron processor, 80 GB hard drive, DVD-ROM player, and 256 MB RAM. That price includes Windows XP and even a monitor. It’s a full system for $299. With an online coupon, you can even get free shipping.


Sure it’s not much to look at, but for the price, you can buy a lot of stickers.

Inside is pretty sparse, but the slots and ports are there to expand if you want. If the Intel Extreme Graphics 2 video doesn’t cut it, you can slap in a video card into the PCI slot. I added a 512MB memory stick (bought via Newegg) to bump the total of 768MB of RAM. XP runs pretty damn smooth with that much RAM.
I did have to spend about an hour deinstalling all the crapware that Dell installed and loading Grisoft AVG and Firefox. For an extra $10 I got an actual WinXP install disc and for another $14 a copy of Webroot Spysweeper. Not getting a monitor pretty much covered those costs.
The girls are happy and I’ve had absolutely no problems with the computer so far. It’s quiet and stable.

One more surprise I found on the Dell site was the $78 laser printer. When buying it with a computer, the 1110 laser printer is only $78. Hard to believe these things used to go for thousands. Again I was surprised at the good quality of the output and the printer itself. There are a couple drawback though, as it doesn’t come with a USB cable (Dell wants $25 for one!!) and the toner cartridge goes for $68 . But with the minimal amount we print, this cost is actually in line with comparable printers that go for twice as much.
I still intend to build our performance computers from scratch, but if I need to buy a beginner system, I’m going to look at buying rather than build.

The cap trick for Mentos/Soda experiments

Always curious Mister P. asked how I made the Mentos drop in to the soda bottles. I promised that I woudl draw him a picture. A day late, but here’s how I did it.
The trick is to keep the mentos above the soda until you want it to explode. First you drill a hole in the cap of the soda cap. The larger the whole the bigger the stream that comes out, the small the whole, the longer the stream lasts.


Then drill a hole through the center of each mentos wide enough to fit a paper clip through. Feed the paper clip through the cap, then the mentos. Next, bend the end of the paper clip slightly to prevent the mentos from slipping off, but not too much that you can’t pull it out.

Carefully screw on the cap/mentos to the full soda bottle and you are ready for action.
Once you pull the paper clip out, move out of the way.
I didn’t invent this method. I read about it somewhere, but I don’t remember where.