I want my computer assistant (device) to always be on and watching and listening to what is going on. I want it to identify me by voice and face, and learn who other people (and animals!) are. It needs to interface with devices around me (communications, car, lighting, heating and AC, etc.). It needs to know where I am at all times and go with me everywhere.
We have the technology for all that and we can make it secure. I hope we don't have to wait too long for it to all work well. Microsoft seems pretty far down that path (farther than anyone else), but it isn't quite all there and working well enough to really be effective.
Monday, August 11, 2014
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Why the Farm Account Can't Access or Configure Service Accounts ...
... and What is the Correct Domain Account for running SPTIMERV4?
These are two questions that have plagued man for too long. The answers are both 42.
The farm account can't access configure service accounts because it is not in the local administrators group on the server (or at least it is not supposed to be). Thus, it cannot change who runs services. If you want to configure service accounts you must use an account that is in the local administrators (make it yours or maybe the setup account).
The farm account is the correct account for running the SharePoint Timer Service (Windows service). The permissions must get delegated to it by psconfig or some other magical process.
Those are my answers and I'm sticking to them until I get a better answer. I based this on a bit of painstaking research and experimentation. I did not find the correct answer anywhere, but you just found it!
This is based on SP 2010 Foundation on Windows Server 2008R2, but I am pretty sure it holds true for a number of others.
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Figure Skater Jason Brown Totally Looks Like Sue Heck!
Almost from the moment I saw him in Nationals I had the idea that figure skater Jason Brown totally looks like Sue Heck. I agree with this post that Figure Skater Jason Brown Totally Looks Like Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and the photos tell that story, but look at this:
Jason's genuine enthusiasm is a lot like Eden Sher's characterization of Sue Heck - they seem so over the top, yet they are totally sincere. You have to love them both!
Jason's genuine enthusiasm is a lot like Eden Sher's characterization of Sue Heck - they seem so over the top, yet they are totally sincere. You have to love them both!
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Thrift Haul
I'm not sure if I've entitled a blog post "thrift haul" before, it is quite possible. Big or small, purchases of second hand things are thrift hauls, but the term also denotes a major score. I had a major score on Friday, August 30, 2013 in two cool sets of loudspeakers from one seller. A thrift haul.
I have a major weakness and definitely a hoarding problem as it relates to one thing - loudspeakers. Part of the problem is that once you acquire them, they are hard to get rid of. The good ones are pretty bulky and in general, most people (consumers) believe that loudspeakers don't need to be large any more - that somehow science has made the bulk unnecessary. This, of course, is not at all true.
I made a random, unplanned stop on Lakeshore Boulevard in Mentor to a garage sale. I was in my Town and Country, so I was prepared for what I found. First, there were two beat up looking old smallish speakers stacked on top of one another with $1 marked on them. They were said to be untested. They had stamped "Made in Denmark" on the backs of them and my memory went to work and identified them as Dynaco A-25's. Sold. But they were $1 each not for both! I told the seller that he drove a hard bargain and I was unemployed, and he almost gave me a dollar back. I told the two guys that testing these speakers would make my day. It certainly would have been the highlight if not for the rest of the haul.
As we were loading these in the Chrysler the guy mentioned that they had another set of speakers but they needed to retrieve them from the basement. I could come back (and I left my phone number). But after chatting a while (and getting some nice moon flower seedlings from their garden), one of the two guys got a dolly and (carefully) dragged out the first of a pair of Infinity Quantum 3 speakers. I remembered that Infinity used to make "great" speakers (before they made just "good" speakers, and my 2000 Chrysler has factory Infinity's and they are pretty good). I offered to help getting the other speaker but he insisted on getting them up himself. They mentioned that Empirical Sound in Cleveland had re-(coned or foamed??) the speakers in 1997 and that they mostly sat in the basement since then, unused. They were a little dusty but otherwise the cabinets were beautiful.
He asked $40 for the pair and I hesitated (do I need another project? do I want more big heavy speakers?). I even told them that these speakers probably would not become part of my system as I had Martin Logan's, etc., blah, blah. It sounds stupid to me now. So I bought them for $40.
Now I had a more difficult loading situation in the van, but it went fine. But these things are major ball-busters. They are supposed to weigh 110 pounds each, but I think dust and moisture from a hot day adds 10 pounds. Maybe 20. It felt like 150! So I used my "forearm forklifts" for the first time carrying these things down into the studio. I set them down in front of my Bozak Symphonies (which dwarf the Infinity's) not knowing how I was going to power these for testing.
I decide to look them up on-line before testing. They are Infinity Quantum 3's. The first entry I see calls them the third best loudspeaker in the world. A bit of hyperbole, but it got me thinking I would use the Martin Logan's hookups for testing (each has a Peavey 120/120 strapped to be a 240, and a big ass hunk of wire). I waddled the Quantums over by the Martin Logan's (SL3's) and these too dwarfed the big Infinity's. After connecting them and firing up the amps and turning off all the other speakers (I have a lot running in the large room, normally) I started the random source of Bob Marley Legend from HD Tracks (24 bit, 192 kHz). They sounded very good. Clean, and everything seemed to be working fine.
Putting on Jethro Tull Aqualung 24 bit 96 kHz (unwittingly a multi-channel version), I got my "ah-ha" moment. They sound amazing. Totally freaking awesome. The bass is exceptionally tight and pronounced. Not as powerful as the Bozak's but better defined (yet a little muddier). The mids and high all blend up from the bass beautifully and are completely transparent. It put up such a good sound stage that I had to stick my ear up to the Ohm Walsh 4 center channel to see if it was playing. Very impressive, and I am not easily impressed. I haven't tested extensively, and they sounded just average on a couple just average sources, but I went back to Aqualung (and Locomotive Breath) and again was wowed.
I am shocked that I now have a major new loudspeaker to get into my studio mix (that included the Martin Logan's and Bozak's along with an Ohm Walsh 4 for a center channel and a whole other set of cool ones for another surround in the same room). These are keepers.
So these two nice gentlemen (and I use the term loosely) made a major contribution to my loudspeaker hoarding disease, and I thank them. The A-25's will go into the hoarding pile along with the many EPI's, JBL's and so many other interesting speakers I don't need or use. Something else from my setup of speakers I do use will have to move out to make room for the Infinity's. They work perfectly (for now, using them could rattle them apart, you know) and I love the sound. It will be fun to continue to put them through their paces and pit them against the Martin Logan's and the others. Amplification will be a concern, but I have some surplus in that department (the 120/120 don't need to be strapped, for instance). It will be audiophile fun testing all this quintessential thrift haul.
I have a major weakness and definitely a hoarding problem as it relates to one thing - loudspeakers. Part of the problem is that once you acquire them, they are hard to get rid of. The good ones are pretty bulky and in general, most people (consumers) believe that loudspeakers don't need to be large any more - that somehow science has made the bulk unnecessary. This, of course, is not at all true.
I made a random, unplanned stop on Lakeshore Boulevard in Mentor to a garage sale. I was in my Town and Country, so I was prepared for what I found. First, there were two beat up looking old smallish speakers stacked on top of one another with $1 marked on them. They were said to be untested. They had stamped "Made in Denmark" on the backs of them and my memory went to work and identified them as Dynaco A-25's. Sold. But they were $1 each not for both! I told the seller that he drove a hard bargain and I was unemployed, and he almost gave me a dollar back. I told the two guys that testing these speakers would make my day. It certainly would have been the highlight if not for the rest of the haul.
As we were loading these in the Chrysler the guy mentioned that they had another set of speakers but they needed to retrieve them from the basement. I could come back (and I left my phone number). But after chatting a while (and getting some nice moon flower seedlings from their garden), one of the two guys got a dolly and (carefully) dragged out the first of a pair of Infinity Quantum 3 speakers. I remembered that Infinity used to make "great" speakers (before they made just "good" speakers, and my 2000 Chrysler has factory Infinity's and they are pretty good). I offered to help getting the other speaker but he insisted on getting them up himself. They mentioned that Empirical Sound in Cleveland had re-(coned or foamed??) the speakers in 1997 and that they mostly sat in the basement since then, unused. They were a little dusty but otherwise the cabinets were beautiful.
He asked $40 for the pair and I hesitated (do I need another project? do I want more big heavy speakers?). I even told them that these speakers probably would not become part of my system as I had Martin Logan's, etc., blah, blah. It sounds stupid to me now. So I bought them for $40.
Now I had a more difficult loading situation in the van, but it went fine. But these things are major ball-busters. They are supposed to weigh 110 pounds each, but I think dust and moisture from a hot day adds 10 pounds. Maybe 20. It felt like 150! So I used my "forearm forklifts" for the first time carrying these things down into the studio. I set them down in front of my Bozak Symphonies (which dwarf the Infinity's) not knowing how I was going to power these for testing.
I decide to look them up on-line before testing. They are Infinity Quantum 3's. The first entry I see calls them the third best loudspeaker in the world. A bit of hyperbole, but it got me thinking I would use the Martin Logan's hookups for testing (each has a Peavey 120/120 strapped to be a 240, and a big ass hunk of wire). I waddled the Quantums over by the Martin Logan's (SL3's) and these too dwarfed the big Infinity's. After connecting them and firing up the amps and turning off all the other speakers (I have a lot running in the large room, normally) I started the random source of Bob Marley Legend from HD Tracks (24 bit, 192 kHz). They sounded very good. Clean, and everything seemed to be working fine.
Putting on Jethro Tull Aqualung 24 bit 96 kHz (unwittingly a multi-channel version), I got my "ah-ha" moment. They sound amazing. Totally freaking awesome. The bass is exceptionally tight and pronounced. Not as powerful as the Bozak's but better defined (yet a little muddier). The mids and high all blend up from the bass beautifully and are completely transparent. It put up such a good sound stage that I had to stick my ear up to the Ohm Walsh 4 center channel to see if it was playing. Very impressive, and I am not easily impressed. I haven't tested extensively, and they sounded just average on a couple just average sources, but I went back to Aqualung (and Locomotive Breath) and again was wowed.
I am shocked that I now have a major new loudspeaker to get into my studio mix (that included the Martin Logan's and Bozak's along with an Ohm Walsh 4 for a center channel and a whole other set of cool ones for another surround in the same room). These are keepers.
So these two nice gentlemen (and I use the term loosely) made a major contribution to my loudspeaker hoarding disease, and I thank them. The A-25's will go into the hoarding pile along with the many EPI's, JBL's and so many other interesting speakers I don't need or use. Something else from my setup of speakers I do use will have to move out to make room for the Infinity's. They work perfectly (for now, using them could rattle them apart, you know) and I love the sound. It will be fun to continue to put them through their paces and pit them against the Martin Logan's and the others. Amplification will be a concern, but I have some surplus in that department (the 120/120 don't need to be strapped, for instance). It will be audiophile fun testing all this quintessential thrift haul.
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Cleveland as a Film Location on IMDB
Here is an interesting search I stumbled upon. Cleveland as a film location on IMDB. It doesn't work from the Android app, but it does from the full site.
http://www.imdb.com/search/title?locations=Cleveland%2C%20Ohio%2C%20USA&ref_=ttloc_loc_6
The search yields 544 results as on the date of this posting, but that includes stupid things like sporting events. The search does a good job of sorting by "Moviemeter" but you can also sort other ways:
Numero uno is The Avengers. Number two is Captain America: The Winter Soldier. These were movies that took the liberty of disrupting things in the city during their making (and not really featuring it - Cleveland was a stand in for New York), but I think fans of the genre feel that these were good efforts.
I'm looking forward to Draft Day. Maybe it will turn me back into a Browns fan. Frank Langella wearing a Browns cap??
Of course you could do this for any city. File under useless information.
Photo credit: me; Cleveland food trucks on a Wednesday lunch run; panoramic mode on a Samsung Galaxy Note II
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
In Place Upgrade - Windows Server 2008 R2 to Server 2012 (Including Hyper-V)
I upgraded my developer workstation yesterday and it was unbelievably painless. I think this is especially noteworthy since my workstation is a fully functional desktop with everything from Office and Visual Studio to Chrome and mRemote. It also acts as a Hyper-V host for a number of machines I need to do my work.
Before starting I took several precautions, all of which were unnecessary:
Before starting I took several precautions, all of which were unnecessary:
- Back up My documents
- Back up Downloads
- Defragmented my hard drives
- Compacted one of the drives that was too big
- Shut down all machines
- Deleted all snapshots
- Set machines to use static MAC address
- Exported VM's (in case I had to start from nothing)
Thursday, April 19, 2012
How to Disable Themes in SharePoint 2010
Once you establish a particular look and feel and you don't want users with lots of permissions to mess it up, you need to lock down themes. If you don't want to do anything stupid like mess with the page in _layouts and you don't want to add screwy code to look for the themeweb.aspx you can do it a simple way ...
For the site scope where you want to disable it, run from the SharePoint Management Shell (not valid for SharePoint Foundation):
Then delete all the themes from the gallery. Done.
I will be monitoring the fallout from this as we move to QA, but this seemed obvious!
For the site scope where you want to disable it, run from the SharePoint Management Shell (not valid for SharePoint Foundation):
Disable-SPFeature -identity enhancedtheming -url http://hostname.net/sitename
Then delete all the themes from the gallery. Done.
I will be monitoring the fallout from this as we move to QA, but this seemed obvious!
Monday, October 03, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Fremont Street Experience Las Vegas - Exceptional Cell Phone Video
Cleaning up some my folders I stumbled on this video I shot last November. It was done with my Samsung Captivate (Galaxy S) cell phone. The original is true 720P. I'm not sure if the YouTube is really that good. It gives you a good idea of what it's like to be there when the video is playing. If you are in Last Vegas, be sure to check it out.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Rant: What kind of CSS could do this?
I have thousands of SharePoint 2007 sub sites that use some old custom branding, but I don't blame the custom branding for the crazy behavior I have been observing.
I am doing one last version of the site template before we redo the whole thing for SharePoint 2010. In creating the site template, I noticed that the site home pages (webpart pages) started showing the webpart titles with a different color after opening the document library by clicking the title. This is sort of normal browser behavior for visited links, but it doesn't do it all the time.
When I first create a site from my previous template the links do not change after you open from them. I tried this on my North America, Asia and Europe farms and they all did the same thing. I really don't have time to debug the CSS (and I don't want to mess with it) - but I have time to rant. We don't want them to change after visiting.
Anyway, I need to edit the home page. So I add a new webpart to the page, edit it in a couple wonderful SharePointy ways (other screwiness and fun), and .... VOILA the other links all start changing. Definitely one of the funnier WFT SharePoint things I've seen lately.
I am doing one last version of the site template before we redo the whole thing for SharePoint 2010. In creating the site template, I noticed that the site home pages (webpart pages) started showing the webpart titles with a different color after opening the document library by clicking the title. This is sort of normal browser behavior for visited links, but it doesn't do it all the time.
When I first create a site from my previous template the links do not change after you open from them. I tried this on my North America, Asia and Europe farms and they all did the same thing. I really don't have time to debug the CSS (and I don't want to mess with it) - but I have time to rant. We don't want them to change after visiting.
Anyway, I need to edit the home page. So I add a new webpart to the page, edit it in a couple wonderful SharePointy ways (other screwiness and fun), and .... VOILA the other links all start changing. Definitely one of the funnier WFT SharePoint things I've seen lately.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Schoolboy Makes Disciple
I have to admit that I have been trying to manipulate my BeerAdvocate.com "Beer Karma" rating (my BeerAdvocate personna is Schoolboy). Their ratings are based on a secret formula. I think that part of that rating is based on having a subscription to the magazine. There are initiates ad disciples that have contributed very little content - they have to be subscribers. I do not subscribe, so I have to have lots of content.
Lately I have been trying to post to forums and such whenever I contribute a review, just to try to get the points over 500. It happened today after 271 beer reviews, 23 forum posts, etc. Woo hoo.
Lately I have been trying to post to forums and such whenever I contribute a review, just to try to get the points over 500. It happened today after 271 beer reviews, 23 forum posts, etc. Woo hoo.
Saturday, March 05, 2011
Rock Hall Refresh
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum seems to be making good progress on their refresh of the major exhibit areas. Some stuff has reopened. It's still worth visiting during the upgrades. I've been going at least once or twice a month. It's cool in the winter because you almost have the place to yourself (but it's cool in the summer because there are so many people).
Come on down to the most rockin' museum!
Come on down to the most rockin' museum!
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
2011 Rock Hall Inductees
The 2011 inductees were announced yesterday and ich habe eine kliene problemo avec deisem choices (paraphrasing Eddie Izzard). My problem isn't that they deserve to be inducted, I am fine with their induction. My problem is that they are too American. Where is the diversity? It's turning into the American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. We can't have that. I'll have to have a word with them.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Fats Domino and Dave Bartholomew, American Music Masters
On the evening of November 13, 2010 the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum Fats Domino / Dave Bartholomew American Music Masters tribute concert took place at the Palace Theater. The music planted a big chunk of New Orleans smack in the middle of downtown Cleveland, if only for a day. The more enthusiastic than usual (for an AMM show) crowd was treated to a really nice blend of music.
The Rock Hall recorded the event (video and audio) and Schoolboy also did an audience recording with a Zoom H2 (it sounds pretty good). The slide show is of photos taken with my Samsung Galaxy S.
Set List:
REBIRTH BRASS BAND -
Mardi Gras in New Orleans
JAMES ANDREWS -
What a Wonderful World
JON CLEARY -
Swanee River Hop
THE DIXIE CUPS -
I'm Walkin' (with Herb Hardesty)
Chapel of Love
Iko Iko
THERESA ANDERSSON -
It Keeps Rainin'
I Want to Walk You Home
ROBERT PARKER -
I Hear You Knocking
Barefootin'
IRMA THOMAS -
Blueberry Hill
Time Is on My Side
LLOYD PRICE -
Ain't That a Shame
Lawdy Miss Clawdy
REBIRTH BRASS BAND -
Shrimp and Gumbo
TOOTS AND THE MAYTALS -
Be My Guest
Let the Four Winds Blow
54-46 That's My Number
DAVE BARTHOLOMEW -
Blues in B Flat (with Amadee Castenell)
The Monkey (Speaks His Mind) (with Amadee Castenell)
Tenderly (with Amadee Castenell and Herb Hardesty)
DR. JOHN AND THE LOWER 9-11 BAND -
Who Drank My Beer While I Was in the Rear
The Fat Man (with Ernest McLean)
Blue Monday (with Ernest McLean)
One Night (with Ernest McLean)
I Can't Go On (Rosalie) (with Ernest McLean)
Walking to New Orleans (with Ernest McLean, Irma Thomas and Lloyd Price)
Everybody -
When the Saints Go Marching In
The Rock Hall recorded the event (video and audio) and Schoolboy also did an audience recording with a Zoom H2 (it sounds pretty good). The slide show is of photos taken with my Samsung Galaxy S.
Set List:
REBIRTH BRASS BAND -
Mardi Gras in New Orleans
JAMES ANDREWS -
What a Wonderful World
JON CLEARY -
Swanee River Hop
THE DIXIE CUPS -
I'm Walkin' (with Herb Hardesty)
Chapel of Love
Iko Iko
THERESA ANDERSSON -
It Keeps Rainin'
I Want to Walk You Home
ROBERT PARKER -
I Hear You Knocking
Barefootin'
IRMA THOMAS -
Blueberry Hill
Time Is on My Side
LLOYD PRICE -
Ain't That a Shame
Lawdy Miss Clawdy
REBIRTH BRASS BAND -
Shrimp and Gumbo
TOOTS AND THE MAYTALS -
Be My Guest
Let the Four Winds Blow
54-46 That's My Number
DAVE BARTHOLOMEW -
Blues in B Flat (with Amadee Castenell)
The Monkey (Speaks His Mind) (with Amadee Castenell)
Tenderly (with Amadee Castenell and Herb Hardesty)
DR. JOHN AND THE LOWER 9-11 BAND -
Who Drank My Beer While I Was in the Rear
The Fat Man (with Ernest McLean)
Blue Monday (with Ernest McLean)
One Night (with Ernest McLean)
I Can't Go On (Rosalie) (with Ernest McLean)
Walking to New Orleans (with Ernest McLean, Irma Thomas and Lloyd Price)
Everybody -
When the Saints Go Marching In
Monday, November 08, 2010
How to Get Full (not AT&T Sanitized) Android Market on Samsung Captivate
It's time I started posting some of these tidbits. This one is real simple and it works like a charm.
I am pretty sure this works the same in 2.1 as it does in 2.2 (I've had the leaked Froyo on mine for a while now). All you need to do is turn on Flight Mode, then turn on Wifi, then go to market. You will see AT&T is missing. Download whatever it is you thought you could get from the full market and then turn off flight mode.
There seem to be a small number of apps AT&T is excluding. More nuggets to come!
I am pretty sure this works the same in 2.1 as it does in 2.2 (I've had the leaked Froyo on mine for a while now). All you need to do is turn on Flight Mode, then turn on Wifi, then go to market. You will see AT&T is missing. Download whatever it is you thought you could get from the full market and then turn off flight mode.
There seem to be a small number of apps AT&T is excluding. More nuggets to come!
BobKlass.Info is BobKlassInfo.Info
Just a quick note, BobKlass.Info is now BobKlassInfo.Info. No big deal, I just like to have some kind of domain name out there (and I am going to extreme economy). I expect it may go back to BobKlass.Info in a year. Sorry if this causes confusion or broken links.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Setting Custom Ringtones on a Samsung Captivate
If all you ever did was create contacts stored on your phone, you wouldn't be reading this, because you would just edit your contact, scroll down and set the ringtone. However if you are like me, you might not have entered ANY contacts on your phone. All mine came from Gmail, automagically. In those, you don't see a place to set the ringtone.
After a bit of trial and error (no, I did not RTFM), I found that if I create a new new contact on the phone with the same name as the Gmail contact it will be automatically associated and won't show as duplicates. At the top of the contact there are tabs for the associated contacts. For some reason some of mine have a number of associated Gmail contacts, but if you pick the Phone tab, you can edit the ringtone. Hit the easy button.
After a bit of trial and error (no, I did not RTFM), I found that if I create a new new contact on the phone with the same name as the Gmail contact it will be automatically associated and won't show as duplicates. At the top of the contact there are tabs for the associated contacts. For some reason some of mine have a number of associated Gmail contacts, but if you pick the Phone tab, you can edit the ringtone. Hit the easy button.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Samsung Captivate - My iPhone Replacement
My AT+T family plan phone upgrade eligibility seems to waffle (even on the one iphone). One day they are all eligible, the next none are. This waffling even happens within the same day - stupid. It's a full five months before our "2 years" is up but some consistency would be nice. I won't even bother to tell you what the ATT person said, it just doesn't make any sense. What has happened, though, is I have been able to order my iphone replacement and my daughter ordered a new iphone (3GS, not 4, she needs to actually use the phone, not just look at it).
Over that past week I learned that ATT now has one of (if not the) best Android phones available - the Samsung Captivate (generically aka Galaxy S). It has a great screen, FAST processor, and lots of cool stuff you can do with it/add to it. Like Apple phones, these phones have some features (like FM radio) defeated on ATT.
An iPhone 4 will beat a Captivate in certain specs and performance - especially (for now) web page loading. That will change when the next Android OS (2.2) comes out for this phone, which will be very soon.The iPhone 4 takes better pictures. There also is no front facing camera (will we actually use these eventually? - it may just be disabled) or (almost useless) led "flash." The stuff it does do though is impressive, like great Office integration, easily replaceable $5 battery, cheap add-ons, Adobe Flash, etc. It is the best phone for gaming. Period. Too bad I don't do much of that.
Over that past week I learned that ATT now has one of (if not the) best Android phones available - the Samsung Captivate (generically aka Galaxy S). It has a great screen, FAST processor, and lots of cool stuff you can do with it/add to it. Like Apple phones, these phones have some features (like FM radio) defeated on ATT.
An iPhone 4 will beat a Captivate in certain specs and performance - especially (for now) web page loading. That will change when the next Android OS (2.2) comes out for this phone, which will be very soon.The iPhone 4 takes better pictures. There also is no front facing camera (will we actually use these eventually? - it may just be disabled) or (almost useless) led "flash." The stuff it does do though is impressive, like great Office integration, easily replaceable $5 battery, cheap add-ons, Adobe Flash, etc. It is the best phone for gaming. Period. Too bad I don't do much of that.
It's $149 at Amazon for a family plan upgrade, $199 at ATT store.
Windows phones will be out soon. They will have better cameras and eventually a better OS (really, I am confident that WP7 is going to be a much more complete and robust OS than any previous mobile OS). But I had to jump on this - I am impatient and sick of my iPhone.
Android
I find it exciting to see a robust community of Android users. I don't think there is anything I will miss from the iphone world, application-wise. Some of my most favorite apps on the iPhone include Radar Scope (I found something just like it for Android), Stanza (ditto), Uverse (I don't think so, but it has to be coming) and Nano Studio (will be hard to beat except for the pathetic CPU of my 3G). Everything else is there (all those crappy apps, Android has them too).
ATT has their Android phones somewhat locked down (I just can't have that) but this is easily circumvented with Android Sideload Wonder Machine or very straightforward rooting. Tethering is easily available once rooted. All interesting and useful stuff. I plays flacs but I haven't figured out if I will be able to play flacs 24 bit flacs (I have my doubts). UPDATE: The samsung/att media player plays 24 bit 48 kHz flacs, but not higher. The stock android player does 16 bit flacs only, from what I can tell. Sounds great.
I was sick of Apple, iTunes, and the shape of the iPhone 4, and I don't want a Edsel-phone. Now I can leave that all behind me!
I was sick of Apple, iTunes, and the shape of the iPhone 4, and I don't want a Edsel-phone. Now I can leave that all behind me!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Is That All You Got?
As a hi-fi enthusiast I am a magnet for good gear - it somehow finds me. My latest acquisition is an interesting little amplifier, a Carver M-1.5t, picked up for so little money it was a crime. This amp was an existing Carver design, tweaked to emulate a Mark Levinson ML-2. Knowing that Carver was very concerned about making practical amps that could be used where you would use tube amps like the ML-2, I figured I had a great test bed for it. This turned out to be very true.
My best speakers (and I don't even know how many great sets of speakers I have, but these are my best) are Acoustat Model 3 electrostatic panels. I've had these for a number of years. When I first got them, I tried every amp I had, starting with the biggest. All failed miserably, with solid state amps going into clipping without producing much volume (most popping like mad). I finally settled on a set of two Peavey Classic 120/120 rack mount amps (making 240/240!). These babies have 8 6L6 tubes in each amp. The 8 big tubes could not make an Acoustat get really loud, but they were loud enough to sound sweet and I have lots of other stuff to reinforce the sound.
Carver says the M-1.5t produces 600 watts in each channel when the max headroom light comes on (up to 750 watts into one channel). This max indicator was lit within the first 30 seconds of my test. My tests are incomplete, and all were done completely by ear, but this is what I heard:
This last point will take some better testing to see if it is really true. It seemed like a very simple bright versus warm, classic tube argument, but I need to level the field and use more similar sources. I definitely like the idea of getting more volume out of my flagship speakers and I am so proud of how they took 1200 watts from the Carver and seemed to say, "Is that all you got?" This testing is tough work but somebody's got to do it.
My best speakers (and I don't even know how many great sets of speakers I have, but these are my best) are Acoustat Model 3 electrostatic panels. I've had these for a number of years. When I first got them, I tried every amp I had, starting with the biggest. All failed miserably, with solid state amps going into clipping without producing much volume (most popping like mad). I finally settled on a set of two Peavey Classic 120/120 rack mount amps (making 240/240!). These babies have 8 6L6 tubes in each amp. The 8 big tubes could not make an Acoustat get really loud, but they were loud enough to sound sweet and I have lots of other stuff to reinforce the sound.
Carver says the M-1.5t produces 600 watts in each channel when the max headroom light comes on (up to 750 watts into one channel). This max indicator was lit within the first 30 seconds of my test. My tests are incomplete, and all were done completely by ear, but this is what I heard:
- More volume than the two Peavey 120/120's - not a lot, but more
- Slightly less distortion than the Peavey's (that's not good - the Peaveys distort a lot when driven hard - the Carver seems to distort quite audibly as well)
- The Carver definitely sounded like a transistor amp compared to the Peavey (duh - 20 output transistors vs. 16 output tubes)
This last point will take some better testing to see if it is really true. It seemed like a very simple bright versus warm, classic tube argument, but I need to level the field and use more similar sources. I definitely like the idea of getting more volume out of my flagship speakers and I am so proud of how they took 1200 watts from the Carver and seemed to say, "Is that all you got?" This testing is tough work but somebody's got to do it.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
I Dodged the iPhone 4 Bullet ...
... and now I think I am cured of iPhone desire for good. To think I nearly bought one on blind faith, but I was saved when I decided to wait for a white one.
After actually handling one, I decided there isn't anything compelling about it. Besides the much publicized issues of non-functional antenna design, weak blue tooth support and a flaky proximity sensor, I have these issues:
After actually handling one, I decided there isn't anything compelling about it. Besides the much publicized issues of non-functional antenna design, weak blue tooth support and a flaky proximity sensor, I have these issues:
- Boxy, uncomfortable shape - despite being smaller, it doesn't feel smaller (inversely, though, despite being heavier than my 3G, it feels lighter)
- The display is good, but not so good I have to have it. Over-hyped.
- Bogus multitasking - this is no way to operate a computer. How stupid.
- Still not the strongest camera.
All this has led me to be happy with what I have for the next few months and see if something better comes along. The iPhone 4 now looks like it would have been a mistake. In the mean time, I bought a little 2.2 pound net book to play with. I know a lot of techies have tried and abandoned the net book genre, but I'll give it a try anyway. My consolation toy. Thanks to jailbreaking I will be able to tether it to my iPhone with MyWi (not that I ever really need to).
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