Marketing with blogs and twitter is contrary
to the nature of these systems.

You can’t game the system. Period. This is a world where people filter out crap and decide what’s actually useful. Are you wondering why you only have a few followers on Twitter? Perhaps it’s because you provide no useful information at all! In fact, I would guess that the only followers you have are your employees and their parents. The same goes for your blog. If you write about how great your company is and how useful your products are, people will figure out that you’re trying to sell them something. There are a lot of stupid people out there, but even the lowliest mouth-breather out there knows when they’re getting sold something. We’re not buying it and you’re only hurting your reputation.

People write blogs about real things: what their passions are, how they spent their vacation, how the economy is affecting them, and what their family is doing. They vent (like I am now), they explain, they share. It’s real. Blogging about your benefit package or how great your corporate cafeteria’s food tastes doesn’t really matter, especially if you’re not hiring anyone!

I follow people who twitter about things that interest me, that I benefit from by either sharing information or consuming information. I don’t want to hear about what you’re working on today (especially if it’s the same 2 or 3 things every day), I don’t want to see you invite one of your tweets to lunch (that’s what instant messenger is for, you twit… it’s different if you’re sending an open invitation that you want to broadcast!), and I don’t want to know what new and exciting product your company is launching tomorrow… usually…

The only exception that comes to mind is when your company has a livestyle brand: something that I’m passionate about or invested in: Apple, Woot, Subaru, and Maker’s Mark might be a few examples. They are companies that make products that integrate with my life. I don’t want to hear from my insurance company, bank, mortgage company, or utilities. Period.

Just because Google has a blog that talks about what they’re working on… and it’s immensely popular… doesn’t mean that first global bank’s blog will be the same. Google is buzzworthy. They are an industry changer: the stuff they broadcast has wide-reaching implications and most of all, it’s freakin’ interesting!

Here’s a suggestion: do something better than everyone else. You’ve just created an instant audience. Then, write stuff that your audience cares about. They’ll read it, I promise.

11-19

On the plane… all day.

Luggage didn’t make it to Hawaii, due to delays… had to wait for next island-hopper to arrive.

Got rental car

Checked into hotel/condo

Dinner at Huggo’s: great teriyaki steak… even better Mai Tais.

11-20

Breakfast Splasher’s Grill: Omlette for me Pancakes w/ berries and cream cheese for Gina.

Grocery shopping: supplies for our time on Big Island.

Skipped lunch, lots of time on the road (2 hours each way) to Volcano. Very cool, rained, but ok.

Learned about different kinds of Volcanic rock, ahah (rough) and poh’hoi’hoi (smooth).

Drive back to hotel, stop at local hippie organic fruit stand. Got fresh pineapple, chips, guacamole, macaroons.

Make dinner: steak: pan cooked in garlic butter. Shrimp cooked in steak drippings and garlic butter. Delicious. Homemade mai tais… Chris made them strong. Time to hit the hot tub… it was hot. The pool refreshingly cold. Jumped back and forth between them. Met Nick (who works at Intuit… shared some stories) as well as a surfer dude with a tattoo of his parents’ wedding bands on his arm. Tired. Time for bed.

11-21

We actually got up to watch the sun rise! (Benefits of a five-hour time difference.

Breakfast: Portugese sausage and eggs with bacon. Mmmm… breakfast of champions. Had plenty of POG with that meal. Packed up and headed out for our dolphin journey.

Arrived at harbor, got fitted for snorkeling gear and headed out on boat. Saw dolphins immediately, but could not dive so close to shore. Fisherman dump carcasses in that area… things that eat carcasses would be around (they didn’t specifically say sharks, but that’s what they meant). The skipper was Kitt, our dive master was Brett, the boat pilot was Brian. Boat skipped across waves pretty well. Moved to first dolphin area and jumped in. When the boat slowed and started to list in the water ,I needed to get off asap. We saw dophins under water immediately. You could hear them before you saw them. Amazing. These spinner dolphins were very acrobatic and travelled in groups of 3-10, although the pod was about 80 animals. During the second stop, I got within a foot of a group of 3 dolphins. Looking into their eyes you kind of get the feeling that they’re trying to figure you out. There’s no doubt about how intelligent they are. About 10 minutes into the 3rd stop, a mouthful of salt water convinced me that I had to get back on the boat and stare at the shoreline. Seasick. It sucks. I skipped the 4th stop, but everyone else had really up-close encounters with the dolphins. Apparently, I was pretty pale… everyone liked pointing that out. The whole excursion was so great that I don’t care that I was seasick. I would gladly be sick again to have the same experience. As soon as I got on the shore I felt better. Within minutes, it was as if I had never been sick. We all went back and took naps. It was draining! Later that night we made salads and Chris seared tuna and ono.

11-22

Thanksgiving! More Portugese sausage and eggs for breakfast. Good grief that stuff is delicious! Then we geared up for an island hike based on some tips from our dolphin journey dive master: Brett. On the way out, we found a dive shop (open on Thanksgiving!) and bought some masks and snorkels (great deal on good gear), added to our packs, and continued on our way. We started out on a small beach and headed into a lava flow. The terrain was treacherous, but we were making pretty good time. Half-way into the lava flow, we discovered the actual trail, which was much easier to traverse. We were soon on the next beach, covered in a mixture of black lava rock and white fossilized coral. After a short break, we turned back (following the trail this time…) and returned to the beach. Chris torqued his back something awful, so he took a break in the shade while Gina, Emily, and I checked out the water. The girls hung back, fearing that the rough seas would remove their suits, while I tried out body surfing for the first time. Awesome. We regrouped and headed back to prepare for our “Captain Bean’s Dinner Cruise” (Formerly known as the “booze cruise“). The live music on the boat was nice, the food was pretty bad, as was the show, but the performers looked like they were having fun. We each got a single drink ticket (Chris and Emily remembered that there was an open bar in previous years), but Emily bought us a lava flow to meet our girl-drink quota. We headed back and packed for our departure from the Big Island the next day.

11-23

Last day on the Big Island. We made scrambled eggs and Portuguese sausage (can’t get enough) and packed up for a time-share spiel. (We sold our souls for a gift certificate to pay for most of the dinner cruise on Thursday.) We went there, told them we did it for the “gift”, sat through a basic presentation, then were off for a day of walking around the main road. After about an hour of that, we decided to check out the Kona Joe coffee plantation and mill. We got a tour, some samples and bought plenty of 10% Kona coffee. We were directed to a local restaurant for lunch called Aloha Angel Cafe. The food was incredible: a sampling of every style of food we could imagine. Gina had a chicken sandwich, Chris had a quesadilla, Emily had pasta, and I had an Indian curry. Back in the truck and off the the airport to return the rental and check-in for our flight.

The airport on the big island is completely open. There are no signs at the gates or screens to tell you what flights are arriving or departing. They just kinda call you up when it’s close to boarding time, you sit down for 5 minutes, then you board the island hopper. Each inter-island flight included a small cup of Pineapple-Orange juice… well, 10% juice. It’s similar to the delicious POG (Pineapple, Orange, Guava) Juice found all over the island. Anyway, a quick stop on Honolulu and we were back on another hopper to Kawai’i. We got off of the plane, decided to rent one Jeep (instead of a Jeep and a convertible), and headed out to Chris and Emily’s time-share. The 4-door Jeep is relatively large inside (it fit all of our luggage better than the Liberty on the Big Island), but rides more like a… well… Jeep. We tried to stop for Bubba Burgers, but everything closed around 8 except for a small strip of restaurants and coffee bars… for the night owls, they stayed open until 10 . We ate giant servings of great food at the Olympic Cafe. (Burger for me, Tofu wrap for Gina, Burrito for Chris, and a giant salad for Emily… plus a few Hawaii 5-0s… think of it as a Long Island Iced Tea… Hawaiian-style.

11-24

We stopped at the Polynesian Cafe in Hona Lei and had breakfast sandwiches, burritos, etc. We shopped for a bit, buying towels and a sweet Hemi Aloha shirt, then went for a drive across several one-lane bridges to Ke-a Beach. We stopped at a semi-underground lake in the side of a mountain, but it was too… murky… to venture across. We headed to the very wavy beach and kinda Zen-ed out, looking at the Napali coast.

After a few walks along the shore, some crab-digging, and water testing, we left to get supplies for the week at the grocery store. Groceries are VERY expensive in Hawaii. Even though Hawaii has the biggest and oldest cattle ranch in the US, all of the beef has to be sent back to the mainland for USDA approval… expensive. We headed back to the time-share and carried a bag of sandwiches down the the beach for a picnic. Another chill out followed by walking along the shore and a little swimming, then back to the rooms for some Mai-Tais and music. We drank until the world became a little out of focus, then headed off to the hot tub and pool. We cooked in the hot tub, then chilled in the pool… then repeated… and repeated… and repeated. Sufficiently relaxed, we went back to the rooms and hit the hay.

11-25

Breakfast: Corned beef hash and eggs, POG and coffee. We loaded up, grabbed our snorkeling gear, and hiked a few miles to Queen’s Bath… a tide pool on the edge of the ocean surrounded by tall volcanic rock. There was a spot to dive from (we didn’t) and lots of great snorkeling. After some turtle-watching on the cliffs, we headed out for another decent hike to hide-away beach. For much of the time, we were the only people on the beach or in the water. The snorkeling there was even better! Huge tropical fish (trigger fish, box fish, clown fish), sea cucumbers, and anemone were everywhere we looked. We snorkled without fins and the current was challenging at times, but we made sure to not venture to far into the ocean.

A quick nap on the beach, and we hiked back to the time-share. Chris grilled up marinated Ahi tuna and chicken while Emily and Gina prepared salads. The night ended with beers and way too much time spent watching TLC shows about morbidly obese people at a treatment center in New York. When they started showing something about a 1000 lb Mexican guy, we decided we had enough and headed off to bed.

11-26

Gina and I made spam (yes, really), egg, and cheese breakfast sandwiches with has browns for breakfast. We packed up and loaded into the Jeep to see Apaeka Falls. There’s been less rain than normal, so they were there… but not as full as normal. Then we headed out to Waimea Canyon then to Barking Sands beach. The canyon was impressive… like a tropical grand canyon (but smaller). By this time it was pretty far into the day… about 2 in the afternoon. We headed to a small diner/ice cream shop and discovered that they had Katsu on the menu. (It was sooo great.) They also featured Lappert’s Hawaiian Ice Cream… mmmm.

Barking Sands was a huge beach that required an exciting 4 wheel drive excursion to reach. I would say that we all had more fun pounding through the dirt trail than at the beach itself. The video of the dirt road trip should be fun to watch. We headed back and stopped at Spouting Horn (aka “The Blow Hole” aaka “The Ocean Fart”). Any tourist trip to Hawaii requires a stop at Hilo Hatie (what Bronners is to Christmas, Hilo Hattie is to Hawaii), where we got some swag. We had dinner at a place called Sushi Bushido. It was average, but about the same price as the mainland… the service was horrible. We headed back to the resort and immediately hit the hay. It was an activity-packed day and we were exhausted.

11-27

Chris cooked crepes/swiss pancakes with portuguese sausage for breakfast (I missed portuguese sausage already… mmm). After a cup of tasty coffee, we headed to Tunnels beach for some snorkeling. The ocean was pretty rough. We were pulled in every direction, the undertow was crazy, having to grab onto VERY sharp rocks to keep from getting pulled out to sea (even with dive fins on). We regrouped, bandaged our cuts, and tried a slightly less active part of the beach. It was a little better, but we were still getting pulled horizontal to the shore making it hard to see the fish. We saw tons of huge creatures: urchins, fish, sea cucumbers, and crabs. Most of the fish were 9-12 inches long, the bigger ones were not afraid to go snout to mask with us. We tried one more snorkeling spot based on the recommendation of another snorkeler. It was much calmer, but quickly became murky and dark as the sun started to hide behind clouds. We all took a power nap on the beach, then walked back to the Jeep.

We drove into Hona Lei and finally got our Bubba Burgers. (Their slogan is “we cheat tourists, drunks, and attorneys.”) Think fresh, old fashioned, hamburgers with just meat, cheese, onions and relish. Dress to taste (I went with mayo, a little ketchup, and a dash of mustard), and enjoy. They were every bit as good as promised. Adding a basked of “frings” (fries mixed with a few onion rings) and you’re in hog heaven. Gina opted for chili fries w/ cheese that were just as good as the frings. A little more shopping in the nearby shops for gifts and a hoodie for Gina and then a drink to observe island happy hour (3:30 – 5:30), then a stop for groceries (tonight is taco night) and Margarita fixins and we were back at the resort to chill a little bit before making dinner.

We skipped the margaritas since the bubba burgers were playing havoc on the girls’ stomachs. Chris and I downed a few beers, and then it started to pour. That didn’t phase us a bit, we put the beer into plastic cups and headed off to the hot tub. We met a local who told us how to get to secret beach and all about his new (to him) 2002 Tacoma with a 5″ lift and rims. Sounds pretty sweet. We enjoyed the cold rain in the hot tub and then headed back to observe taco Tuesday. The smell of fresh taco fixin’s got the girls attention, we ate, the girls went to bed, and Chris and I talked for a few hours (and drank a few more beers) before throwing in the towel for the night.

11-28

Hawaiian bread french toast w/ coconut syrup and portuguese sausage started the day off right, albeit a little later than usual (8:00)… I blame the beers. We chilled then headed off to secret beach. Apparently, it’s not that much of a secret: there were a few folks walking around, but the seas were WAAAAAY to rough for swimming or snorkeling. We hiked around, took lots of pictures of the surf, and hunted for crabs.

After an hour-or-so, we found a cluster of rocks, perched on them and ate sandwiches that we packed in our bags. We watched the crabs dig holes and react to the incoming surf. Very relaxing. We then headed into Kapa’a for a coffee at Java Kai. The barista was very friendly… except when Chris ordered a Late after he had already steamed the milk. We walked around town, shopped a bit, then headed back to the resort.

The sky was relatively overcast all day with occasional light showers, but we made the most of it by relaxing in the hot tub and swimming in one of the resort’s pools. We returned to the condo and made patty melts with mushrooms and red peppers and some meaty nachos. We’re officially in “use up all of the food” mode. We chilled, finished our margaritas, and talked about racing. Then we plunked down in front of the TV and watched a show on TLC about a forensic medical examiner. Bah. I had a little trouble falling asleep… maybe I’m realizing that we’re getting close to the end of our trip. I’m pretty much ready to sell everything, quit my job, and work at a car wash (Hawaii needs more of them) on Kawai’i. An hour or two of Super Mario 64 DS tired me out and I finally fell asleep.

11-29

Our last full day in Hawaii. Sigh. We improvised ham, egg, and cheese (except Chris) breakfast burritos with hash browns. We finished off the last of our POG and chilled on the Lenai while waiting for Chris to shower (and for me to update this travel journal).

We headed out to a bird sanctuary and the Western-most lighthouse in the US. Though overcast, we saw plenty of Nay-nay (I’m sure my spelling is pretty horrible…) as well as several other soaring seabirds. We ventured out that evening to try to catch the sunset, but it was overcast and the only bridge back to town was to be closed at 7. The police arrived and asked everyone to head back… so we did. We had one more round of Bubba Burgers, then headed back to pack and sleep

11-30

We woke up and had the last of our sausage and eggs for breakfast. We collected our things and headed out to do a little souvenir/gift shopping in town. We finally sampled shave ice and walked along the beach one last time. We returned our rental and changed into Michigan-ready clothing, then went to the Kauai airport to wait for our jumper to Honolulu.

Our flight arrived in Honolulu on time and we looked for some sort of meal option before boarding the plane. No such luck. The airport is older and has some nice details that I remember airports having when I was younger (real wood, interesting light fixtures, etc.). We boarded the plane and taxied onto the runway, only to head back for navigation system maintenance. An hour and fifteen minutes later and we were off. The flight to Minnesota lasted almost 8 hours, but Northwest kindly arranged for a new flight to replace the one that we (quite obviously) missed due to the delay in Honolulu. We waited for a few minutes, eating some sort of yuppy-friendly breakfast food, then boarded our plane. We barely got out before a huge snowstorm hit Minneapolis.

12-1

We arrived in the snow-covered splendor of Michigan an hour-or-so later. (That splendor part was sarcasm, by the way.) Our luggage was already waiting for us when we arrived. We grabbed it and waited for our shuttle to the long-term parking facility. Back in the orange wonder van, we drove Chris and Emily home, then headed to Gina’s parents’ to claim our cats.

We picked up the cats without a hitch and went home. The house was still there and in the same condition we left it. Since our luck had been so good thus far, I decided to stretch it a bit further by driving across town to my parents’ house to get Kacey, our dog. The plan was to beat the looming ice storm and come back… with summer tires on my car. It should be noted that regardless of all, four, or ten wheel drive you will go nowhere if your tires have no grip. After a grueling hour and a half drive on treacherous, ice-covered roads, we arrived at my parents… and stayed there, all night, until the roads were “better” in the morning.

12-2

We got home just fine and enjoyed a quiet evening along with just enough time to miss Hawaii and mentally prepare for our return to work the next day.

We eventually installed the new steps, mortar and all, but I learned a few things. First: compact cars do not haul heavy loads well. I ended up replacing the rear suspension in my Subaru. What the heck was I thinking? Just because the load fit didn’t mean that I should carry it in that car! I should have rented a truck or bugged a buddy to help me out. Putting the concrete step through the bottom of the garden cart reinforced this. Perhaps a wheel barrel would have worked better.

I build websites for a living. More accurately, I lead a team of folks that build websites for a living. I still code quite a bit, but it’s not my primary responsibility. Our websites are used by the public. We are Web Standards code snobs: our markup describes the content it contains. The tools we use allow us to do this quickly and easily. We have built several frameworks with PHP. Admittedly, the newest framework (which benefits greatly from PHP5′s object oriented approach) is significantly better than our previous (early-PHP4-based) framework. However, both of these solutions allow us to meet the demands of our very creative marketing team as well as the unpredictable financial market. PHP is hands-off when it comes to the front-end. Do what you want (good or bad) and PHP will let you. Each of our frameworks has defined boundaries to ensure the separation of layout (display) from logic. In the end, however, we can be sure that our output (the web page content) is exactly we want it.

This has paid off in a big way. Search engines consume our content greedily thanks to concise, content-related URLs (which we control completely). Paragraphs, headlines, and lists (menus) are tagged as such instead of vague blocks (divs). Search engines like this and so do developers. There’s no guessing about what something is on a page. Data grids are represented as tables, and table are not used for layout. (Just like you wouldn’t use Microsoft Excel to design and publish a newsletter… at least you shouldn’t… unless your clinically insane.)

I’m not claiming that other solutions don’t allow you to do this. But some of them try to do too much for you. In the process of doing so, they make you do it their way. For example, the origins of one popular technology are founded in desktop application development. The development metaphors of desktop application are very different than those of web development. (Screens instead of pages and so forth.) Additionally, the mentality of platform agnostics escapes most desktop developers. They build for a specific platform, the end. Web developers must support many versions of many browsers, on many platforms and devices. This mentality is reflected in the approach that these technologies take in addressing user interface, layout, display, and session management. If you’re going to build web sites, choose a tool made for building web sites… not everything else.

However, if you’re building desktop apps you’re in a great spot if you’ve chosen technology intended for such a task. When you find yourself straddling this workspace, it may make sense to compromise. Use a technology with strong ties to both worlds. I’m not talking about Java here, folks. .NET offers some powerful tools for application developers that are required to build web-compatible apps. Read that last sentence again… “web-compatible apps…” I’m pretty proud of that part. It encapsulates the spirit of those developers that use .NET technology for web apps. Whether you start out writing desktop apps or your goal is to someday write a desktop app, you’ll probably be pretty happy using .NET to build web apps.

Face it! You’re not thinking web. You’re not buying into the philosophy and culture of a shared, universal experience. The web breaks down barriers, it should not invent new ones (Active X, I’m looking at you…). Some of the new things that Microsoft is working on, like Silverlight, have the right spirit. Now it’s up to the real web development/design community to adopt them. Microsoft is going to need some feedback… and I’ve recently found out that they’re really open to it. Tell them what you want, they’re listening. Their tools reflect the needs of their core user base. If web standards focused developers use these tools and work with Microsoft to get it right, there’s a good chance they’ll get there (eventually).

Everybody has tools that they use to get work done. I admit that I’ve used wrench for a hammer in a pinch. Usually, the results aren’t pretty. A carpenter wouldn’t do the same thing. If you’re a professional, make sure you use the tools that fit the job. If you’re using tools that work, but aren’t made for the job, tell the people that make those tools to get it right. Demand it. Now get back to work. Web 3.0 isn’t going to happen by itself.

Many people have shared their preferences with me. Though I accepted their opinions, part of me would not let go of preconceptions that will ultimately hinder my ability to see everything out there for what it’s worth. One person in particular has shared a lot of his experience with me, and some of it I’ve taken for granted… until now.

Brad is a character that I met at work. He shares a passion for cars that I respect. His opinions on performance and aesthetic are often in contrast to my own. His current ride, a late model Mercury Cougar, started out stock with a body kit. Then custom wheels and window tint. I’ve always prefered performance to appearance, so I was not quick to recognize the improvements he made to his car. His passion went beyond the external modifications to his car. He organized a local Cougar club that later spawned an annual gathering for owners, Cougarfest. Brad took it upon himself to contact corporate sponsors, choose a location, and organize a professional event. His Cougar-owning peers look up to him. I realize now that I do too.

I don’t have the where with all to coordinate such an effort. Autosport is something I prefer to appreciate in a more solitary way. It’s kind of a zen thing. Alone with some tools and a car, elbow deep under the hood, I sometimes find a peace that I don’t associate with any of my other interests. Brad is interested in the community aspect. In addition to Cougarfest, he participates in several car shows per year. He has taken several awards for his Cougar, and I believe that he earned every one.

A few years ago, Brad went beyond aesthetic improvements and installed a major performance upgrade: a Vortec centrifugal supercharger. This is no small task and Brad had few peers to guide him. He did the work (with a few extra hands) and the results are stunning. This upgrade got my attention. However, it was more than a single step… it was yet another step in an ongoing process to realize his vision.

Shortly after the supercharger upgrade, Brad started to compete in SCCA Solo events. At this time I was pretty hooked with drag racing (at a local strip, of course) as well as turning a wrench or two for a SCCA road racing team. Though I was curious about Solo II, I didn’t venture out on my own and try it. Maybe I was scared to try something without anyone guiding me… maybe my longterm goal (road racing) blinded me from this short term satisfaction. In any event, Brad continued to gain experience while I sat by and watched.

Eventually I accompanied Brad to a Solo II event. It was a blast. Over the past few years, I learned a lot about the sport… I also learned a lot about motorsport physics. Though I have no immediate plans to continue with autocross, I learned a lot about it, thanks to Brad.

Brad is quiet. He doesn’t make a show of his interest… apart fromt he decals on his car (wink). When he wants to work on his car, he simply walks out to his garage and starts working. I, on the other hand, require a lot of prep to start working. I research my projects online, block out a day on a weekend several weeks in advance, and focus intensely on the task at hand. Brad is happy to work a few hours, clean up, and jump thorough a sprinkler on the lawn if the moment strikes him.

This I respect above all. He doesn’t stress over his hobby, though he is undeniably passionate about it. It’s a seamless part of his being. I wish to be like this. I want to just do… not plan, process, and participate. There’s a zen to Brad’s way that I hope to find… maybe it’s something I’ll discover this year. Maybe it’s something that I’ll never quite get. In any event, I’ll continue with this example as an inspiration and another experience to add to my personal “files.” Everyone’s experience is unique, but I can’t deny that other’s experience affects my own.

Tivo set the standard by which all other PVRs are compared. It’s intuitive and elegant interface (including remote control), responsiveness, and reliability are difficult to beat. It offers some basic home media center/server features such as mp3 playback, photo viewing, and recorded video sharing. Tivo has become more than a company, more than a solution… It has become a verb. Apparently Tivo doesn’t like that. Recent actions taken against web sites and promotions that encourage users to “Tivo that show” prove that Tivo is working to seperate itself from other DVR solutions.

My goal was to find a PC-based solution utilizing some existing hardware resources that offered a similar experience to Tivo without limiting future upgrades (multiple tuners, high-definition output) and extending the media center experience beyond DVR and media playback (gaming, internet access, multi-format video viewing, file server access, home automation). I also hoped for a reliable and mature solution.

The hardware I selected was:

TV Tuner:

Hauppauge WinTV PVR 250. A solid, full featured tuner with onboard mpeg encoder and decoder. Compared to the 150, there is a negligable difference in picture quality, but more importantly, the 250 is compatible with non-Windows solutions (including MythTV). The MCE version ships without a remote (since Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 has one of it’s own), reducing cost. OEM versions of the card can be found for a significant savings over thheir retail counterparts. The OEM cards ship in a simple white box with a 4-page installation guide. No media ships with the card, as the drivers are covered by the operating system. Expect to pay $100 to $120 for an OEM card from suppliers such as PC Alchemy and approximately $150 for the retail version.

Video Card:

NVidia GeForceFX 5200. Windows XP MCE 2005 requires a DirectX 9-compatible display adapter. MythTV (and Linux in general), gets along better with NVidia cards than their ATI counterparts. (In the past, I’ve preferred ATI’s offerings, but NVidia has made a believer out of me…) The 5200 is a cost-effective solution. It meets all of the requirements, and offers surprising performance for the price. Additionally, the DVD Decoder Codecs/Software sold by NVidia for use with their products is excellent. PC Alchemy offers several bundled packages that include a Hauppauge tuner, Windows XP MCE, DVD Decoder software, and video card. If you keep an eye on ony of the popular deal sites online (Deals On The Web, XP Bargains) you may be able to find one of these cards for $20 (or less, after rebates). Legends are still shared of those who have found these cards for free after enough rebates are mailed.

CPU/Motherboard:

I had hoped that I would be able to pull this caper off with a 1.1 gHz Athlon processor, but XP MCE requires a minimum 1.6 gHz powerplant. A faster front-side bus helps with the DVD decoding as well. I went with a Soyo Dragon KT600+ v2 motherboard with an Athlon 2600+ (snicker) CPU. It does the job. If you’re planning on compressing video files while you record television or recording multiple sources at the same time, a few more mHz will help.

Storage:

I am using a multiple-drive configuration. One drive (~30g) hosts the operating system and software while the other (~200g) is used for recording. A lesson learned from computer based audio recording: don’t record to your system drive. Recording anything in realtime uses a cache, most often in the same location as your operating system and/or recording software. Allowing your system to record to one drive, while crunching away on another will extend hardware life, reduce system stress, and limit complications that could lead to system failure. More storage is better, as recorded programs at high quality consume a great deal of disk space. Reduced quality recordings, of course, conserve space, but animated shows (cough, Adult Swim, cough) suffer greatly from increased compression by showing obvious and distracting artifacts.

Sound Card:

While most will find their onboard audio solutions sufficient, I wanted digitial audio support… my Soyo MB did not support this, so I re-used my aging PCI Sound Blaster (w/ SPDIF-out). Numerous low-cost options are available from a number of brands.

Pre-assembeled Offerings:

HP, Gateway, and Dell offer complete Media Center Machines starting at $800. However, as the features and specs grow, so does the cost. Expect to pay about $1500 for a flagship system. If you want a warranty, customer support, and a cool logo, these are viable options… if it fits your budget.

Windows MCE XP 2005 cost round-up:

In trying to research the cost of a custom media center computer, I found that there are innumerable component choices and endless iterations of hardware combinations. Expect to pay $400 for a basic system meeting minimum system requirements to $800 for a competitive solution to the pre-built options from major brands.

Other options:

Linux

If you like to tinker with software and hardware and don’t have strict requirements for dependability or features, seriously consider KnopMyth. Just because I didn’t have to patience to get every aspect of KnoppMyth working doesn’t mean that other can’t either. The hardware requirements are less strict (though I still highly recommend a video solution from NVidia.. their Linux support is great). and the OS and software are free.

Mac

With the release of the Mac Mini Apple is offering a low cost option for a brand-new computer in an attractive and tiny form-factor (6.5″ square, 2″ tall). With an eyeTV from ElGato and an external hard drive, you can build a Mac-based solution for about $800… without a unified interface. (Though these folks want to change that.)

Tivo

Forget all of the complication of a PC and go with a simple set-top solution. Tivo offers tons of features for a low initial cost ($99 – $199, depending on configuration). My biggest gripe was the $12 monthly service charge. Of course you can pay $299 for lifetime Tivo service.

My decision to use XP MCE was based on these factors:

• Existing hardware… sorta
• Ability to share recorded content with other computers
• Ability to watch existing mpg, avi, quicktime, and divx content
• Some gaming use.. mostly MAME… (KnoppMyth has a plug-in for MAME support)
• No recurring cost/limited initial cost

Everyone will have different requirements and goal in choosing their home media center solution. I hope that these articles have proven to be useful.

Read Part 3…

Further information and related links:
MythTV
KnoppMyth
Microsoft Media Center
PC Alchemy, Home Theater PC equipment reseller
PVRBLog

Television viewing and recording was (initally) my top priority. It is a bit ironic that I have not successfully tested this feature for either platform. However, this was about to change. I decided that my BT878 based card just wasn’t going to cut it. Hauppauge has always been the big name in consumer computer-based television and video-in. The selection of PCI pvr (WinTV-PVR) products has grown recently, ranging from the PVR-150 to the massive PVR-500 MCE. There are some important things to understand about the PVR product line. The PVR-250 and PVR-350 have been around for a while. They use an established series of mpeg hardware encoders for realtime compression during recording. The PVR-150 and PVR-500 are newer products. They share the same chipset with each other. The PVR-150, however, does not have a hardware MPEG video decoder. All models have radio tuner capability, except the PVR-500 (because it’s dual-tuner inputs don’t leave enough room for the radio antennae input). The 150, 250, and 350 are available as non-mce versions. This means that they come with a remote… a remote that is not compatible with Windows Media Center Edition. So the MCE-versions all come without remotes, since Windows MCE already has one. The PVR-500 is only available in the MCE version.

Hauppauge makes some nice gear,
including the PVR 250.

The two most tempting models are the PVR-150 and PVR-500. The former for it’s low price point, and the later for it’s drool-worthy dual tuner capability (record 2 shows at once, or watch a channel while recording another). However, these are currently completely incompatible with MythTV and more specifically, Video 4 Linux. They use a new single-chip hardware configuration. This may change in the future as the PVR-500 becomes more widely used. However support for the PVR-150 may never exist as it lacks a hardware MPEG decoder of any sort. If you want to keep your options open, enabling yourself to switch between Linux and Windows solutions, stay away from the PVR-150 and PVR-500… at least for now. The PVR-350 is not offered as a MCE version, increasing it’s price. Additionally, I could find no inherent performance or feature benefits over the PVR-250. My decision was made, WinTV-PVR-250MCE. (Yeah… that deserves a Type-R as well…)

A few days later and the Tuner was installed. Rather than replace my MCE installation with MythTV, I opted to swap out my hard drive with a spare 20 gb unit. By know, you may be wondering why I didn’t just dual-boot my system. My answer? My final solution would not be in a dual-boot environment. Additionally, I only have a 40 gb drive. There’s no way I could do much with both environments installed on the same drive. Back to my MythTV install. The only major changes I made to the default KnoppMyth install were to my /etc/fstab file (to automount my video and music shares) and to the /etc/X11/XF86Config file (for X resolution, overscan, color depth, etc.). I backed them up to a network drive and was able to re-use them for this re-install. Once again, I tried to view network videos… still no luck. Perhaps I could have solved this with a few mplayer command line tweaks. I didn’t have the patience or concentration to deal with that at the moment. On to the TV. I was able to download the latest tv listings and flip through a few stations. The interface is quite nice; a little more interesting than MCE, but a little more dated at the same time. Responsiveness is good, but there is a slight lag when flipping channels, something that I did not notice in MCE. All of the other features are on par with their MCE counterparts. In short, TV viewing and recording are excellent using MythTV. The guide and viewer are mature and bug-free. So far this is the most developed feature in this environment. I am officially impressed.

Back to Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 (Type-R Sti J-Spec Turbo GT). The tuner setup process is a breeze, it detects your tv signal type and uses your locale and zip code to locate the correct tv listings for your area. The signal types are: Antennae, Cable, and Set Top Box (Satellite, Digital Cable)… that last one caught my attention. Currently, I’ve connected my Media PC directly to the cable line with a simple 2-way splitter (the other end connects to my digital cable box). After checking out the connections on the back of my cable box, I noticed an unused “Out to TV” coaxial connection (I’m using s-video out for my cable box to tv connection). So, I removed the splitter, hooked the cable line directly to my cable box, and my Hauppauge card directly to the “Out to TV” connection on the cable box. I re-ran the tuner configuration wizard in MCE and it detected the set top box signal! However, it informed me that the IR hardware required to control the set top box was not installed, and could not continue. My remote arrived a few days later. I simply plugged it in, and it worked. The Media Center controlled my cable box using 1 of the 2 “IR blasters” attached the the ir receiver. This enabled full Media Center interaction with all of my available cable channels, digital included. While there is a split-second lag between button press and channel change (due to this man-in-the-middle kind of interface), it is mostly transparent.

MythTV’s guide (left) is slightly more attractive than XP Media Center Edition (right)… at least in my opinion, but both are feature rich and responsive.

Compared side-by-side MythTV and MCE’s television playback and recording features are very similar. Both offer an intuitive interface that allows on-the-fly and scheduled recording with a few keypresses. Both interfaces are snappy, though the set top box control that I decided to use with MCE does have a barely noticable delay. I did not find a similar way to integrate my cable box with MythTV. According to their respective websites, both solutions offer dual-tuner support. This would allow one to record one channel and watch another, or record 2 different channels simultaneously. Now that I am using my cable box as a tuner source, I can see the need for such a feature.

In the final installment of this article, I will summarize my findings, list the components I investigated and selected (with the reasons for said decisions), and deliver my opinion on which solutions fit which users. I never got around to trying out the solutions offered by SnapStream, but I may still do so at some time in the future. Stay tuned…

Concluded in Part 4…

Read Part 2…

EyeTV by El Gato provides flexible
TV recording and viewing options.

I like Macs. A lot. My first Mac was the result of a direct need to use the computer that graphics professionals were using the real world. Within a week of my first startup chime I was hooked. It was intuitive, reliable, and dare I say… fun?! I would have loved to build a Mac-based solution, but the current offerings are expensive. The only consumer-ready integrated media solution is eyehome (once again from El Gato Systems). This appliance uses your existing Mac and an EyeTV interface via a network connection to view recorded telivision, listen to music, watch videos and photo slideshows, and browse the web. My main complaint is not resolved by this solution, the only TV listing solutions available are web-based… and you can’t access the tv recording features directly from eyehome… you still have to run to your Mac to start or schedule a recording. Since this solution still uses my main computer, requires an EyeTV in addition to the eyehome appliance, it’s simply too complicated and expensive to consider… and I really want an onscreen guide to browse tv shows and schedule recordings!

The options I would consider were:

Windows XP Media
Center Edition 2005

Microsoft’s new “Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005“. Personally, I would have like to see a Type-R tacked onto that bloated handle. (What the hell? They couldn’t decide which naming standard to go with? Make up your mind Bill… stick to editions (ME, NT, XP), versions (3.11), or years (95, 98, 2004). Don’t try to cram them all onto the box!)

SnapStream’s Beyond TV for Windows, an application for recording and viewing television that can be controlled via remote.

MythTV or more accurately KnoppMyth which offers a “simplified” Linux installation and hardware detection process… more on that later.

I began to investigate these options on my existing “theater” PC. An aging Windows XP machine connected to my home theater system. It consists of a 1.1 ghz Athlon, 256 megs of RAM, ATI 7500 video card, the aforementioned BT878 tuner card, and a lowly 40 gb hard drive. I admit, I was being incredibly optimistic. But, I figured I would try to get this working with as little investment as possible.

NVidia’s GeForce FX

I first tried to install XPMCE2005(Type-R) on top of my existing XP Pro environment despite dozens of online rants against such a folly. After 2 tries, I decided that this would indeed call for a reload. But, rather than try XPMCE2005(Type-R STi) from the get-go, I went with my gut instinct and installed KnoppMyth… sort of. The instructions offered were simple and straight-forward. The actual process, was, unsurprisingly, not. Ideally, the live cd (once burned) should boot up, detect all of my hardware, prompt me for a few simple settings, and install itself. Easy enough… but, don’t let the system go to sleep while installing. It locks up. Hardcore. Keep tapping a control key to avoid sleep at all costs.

Once that obstacle was overcome, the installation completed and prompted me for a reboot. It successfully restarted, went through the usual Linux initialization scripts and started X… technically. I was greeted with an obviously out-of-sync television display. I know there must have been something really cool to see, but damned if I could. I immediately Control-Alt-F1′ed to the console, logged in, and began poking through the XF86Config file (which controls many settings for the behavior of the X sessions display including vertical and horizontal sync, color depth, resolution, ad nauseam). An our later and I resorted to the MythTV web forums for support. Plain and simple, ATI’s Linux support was mediocre at best. God help you if you wanted to use the TV-out functionality of the video card. Strike 1… and I have a feeling there’s going to me more than 3 strikes total in this game.

Since that attempt was now null and void, why not try XPMCE2005(Type-R STi J-Spec)? This is the first Windows installation that requires 2 CDs. (Why not just use a single DVD, Bill?) This installation was as straightforward as Windows gets. Browsing the License Agreement(s) took more mouse clicks than the rest of the installation, but about 40 minutes later, XPMCE2005(Type-R STi J-Spec Turbo) was installed. My first reaction was indifference. It looked like regular old XP with a slightly updated (simplified) theme. I clicked into the start menu to find an unfamiliar icon for the Media Center. That’s when it happened. I would have been no less surprised if the sound of an Autobot transforming erupted from my speakers. I was no longer looking at a keyboard-and-mouse-navigated desktop, but a simplified, appliance-like interface that was both feature-rich, and incredibly simple. Even my parents would more likely be confused by a DVD menu than this! Immediately I headed for the settings. (The TV option wasn’t available to my chagrin.) Here’s where things started to go awry. A message appears notifying me… nay… taunting me with the fact that my video card was not compatible with Media Center. I was a little surprised by this, but after a quick visit microsoft.com, I confirmed that a DirectX 9-compatible card was required. It was official, my first required upgrade is a video card. While researching this, I also discovered that my 1.1 ghz Athlon was not up to par, either. While this hardware may still work with MythTV, there was a good chance that it would not be beefy enough to handle recording live tv.

Even though my video card was shunned by the Media Center, I was allowed to click around. I continued to the tv settings and found that my tuner card was also incompatible. Bah. Time to stop and evaluate my options.

Both MythTV and MCE would require a new video card. MythTV was more friendly with the Nvidia offerings than those from ATI. MythTV appeared to recognize my tuner during the boot sequence, but I was unable to test this without getting all of the way into the interface. There was a good chance that I would need to power-up in the hardware department. 1 ghz just wasn’t going to cut it.

After some research, I decided that Nvidia’s budget-minded GeForceFX 5200 was the route to take. I could replace my motherboard and processor inexpensively. After a few hardware swaps with friends and a delivery from my hero, the UPS guy, I was ready to try again. The updated specs? Athlon 2600+, 266 fsb, 726 megs of RAM. Would you like fries with that?

Back to MythTV. I was becoming an old pro at this installation stuff. I got the installation down to about 20 minutes. I booted into X (yay!), hopped out of the gui, made changes via the console to the XF86Config file, and I was in business. Kinda. The instructions stated that I should run a command-line installer to get the Nvidia drivers installed and the processor-specific apps installed. A few days had passed since my last swing at this, so I had forgotten about this completely. Fast forward a bit, I had had righted my wrongs. (BTW – the folks on the discussion boards weren’t kidding about the advanced Nvidia support. From overscan to refresh rate and video acceleration, you can tweak it in the XF86Config file.)

MythTV’s Refined User Interface

My vigilance was rewarded with the most polished Linux interface I have yet encountered. Smooth screen transitions and easy-to-use navigation ooze from the MythTV GUI. Heading straight for the TV settings, I was once again informed that my card was incompatible. (Actually, it said that it was already in use and recording a program. Which universe this was occurring in was unknown to me. So, let’s assume it meant to say that my card was just plain crap.) Fine, I could probably fudge with the config files and get it to work. A few years ago, I had proven that I could use this tuner with Video 4 Linux… I also remember what a horrendous pain the arse it was. Not yet ready to dive into such an endeavor, I decided to mount my shared video directory from my home control server. Easy enough. The video all appeared in the user interface. A double click later and all I get for my effort was a 1/2 second loading screen, then nothing. Nice. Undeterred, I then mounted my music and played a few MP3s. Finally, success! I checked out a few of the additional features offered by MythTV which included an impressive weather plug-in and a (very) simple RSS aggregator. The GUI occasionally locked, but could be restarted with some command line magic. It should be noted that MythTV is controlled exclusively via keyboard/remote. There is no mouse support at all. Personally, I didn’t like this, especially when it came time to make my mp3 playlists. However, others may be indifferent to this “feature” Time to see what Chairman Bill could do for me.

I admit I felt a little dirty when I began re-installing Windows. MythTV was so close to what I wanted… I reminded myself to remain neutral until I had evaluated my options fully. Once again Windows was installed and I was back into the Media Center. This time there was no warning regarding my video card. However, there was still no TV tuner goodness. (I noted that even though I had doubled the processor mhz and tripled the RAM, the Media Center interface was no more responsive than before.) Mounting my network shares, and viewing pre-existing mpegs was an exercise in simplicity. However, viewing DVDs and non “standard” mpeg files was a little more convoluted. Codecs are the magic ingredient here.

Without the right collection of codecs, forget watching DVDs. Forget watching mpeg4 videos (I require this to watch my collection of Computer Chronicles episodes, many of which are only available in this format.) and forget watching anything Quicktime (at least from within Media Center proper). Luckily, the CD that came with my Nvidia card contained a DVD decoder. Next, I visited 3ivx and Divx websites to download their free codec offerings. Quicktime was downloaded and installed as a stand-alone (no MCE-integrated) app. Media Center and Windows Media Player still pause for nearly a minute while trying to download the “right” codec for mp4 files, but eventually plays them. DVD playback is nice, but the picture quality is noticeably lower than that of my dedicated DVD player (partially due to the s-video connection on my video card vs. the component video available on my DVD player). The MCE interface generates thumbnails of each video in my library, which is nice, but mostly useless (since just about every Adult Swim series starts with the same first frame).

Media Center Music Interface

Music playback is very nice. MCE retreives the cover art and album information for both CDs and MP3s from the internet. The playlist interface is a bit clunky and non-intuitive, but functional. (The playlist functionality for the video player is notably absent.) Visualizations are the standard Windows Media Player fare.

I came across some simple add-ons for MCE. One allowed me to view my NetFlix queue, new relases, and most popular rentals. Another offered a simple weather display (nothing nearly as elegant and useful as the one featured in MythTV). I added QuickTime to my list of “Other Programs” so I could access the application from within Media Center. It operates independantly, minimizing Media Center during playback.

At this point, I was starting to lean towards MCE as my solution. I haven’t even tried Beyond TV. I wanted a solution that worked without unneccesary complication. MythTV was nice, but not yet a complete, consumer-ready solution. But, I haven’t even tried the TV functions for either solution yet. Would I change my mind or would I just loose it?

Continued in Part 3…

Read Part 1…

Poised to become the next big
thing, home media solutions
have finaly matured.

PVRs (Personal Video Recorders) are all the rage. Most offer features beyond digital VCR-like functions and live broadcast viewing. Media (DVD/CD/VCD) and MP3 playback are pretty standard. Some even offer electronic photo slideshows so you can lull guests into a coma with the latest pictures from your summer vacation. Digital media integration is big, and promises to be even bigger in the next 18 months. Commercial offerings from Microsoft, Tivo, and ReplayTV are easily found on the shelves of every electronics mega store from here to kingdom come and there are dozens of do-it-yourself and computer hobbyist options available.

I’ve experimented with home automation and computer-based broadcast recording for several years now. I’ve tried solutions for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux. While a home media center can be the centerpiece of a successful home automation scheme, it is becoming more likely to be implemented by consumers independently. In these articles I will summarize the experiences I have had as well as outline hardware choices and software solutions that I am currently using.

My trusty old PowerMac.

My first attempt at this sort of thing was around 1996. ATI offered a hardware expansion to their Xclaim series of video cards that provided for simple television viewing, and if storage and hardware speed allowed, some recording. I installed this solution in my Power Macintosh 7500 so I could watch television while working from my dungeon (more accurately, my basement “office”). While limited, it was possible to record video with audio and even search several channels’ closed captioning for keywords. A primitive solution at best, but it yielded good results for its time.

Guide screen from Microsoft’s Web TV
for Windows. It was arguable 5 years
ahead of it’s time.

A couple of years later, Microsoft began their WebTV initiative. An often overlooked feature of Windows 95 allowed users to download the latest TV listing using the WebTV service. If you were fortunate enough to have a compatible television tuner, you could use the listing service to tune to a program and even search for a show by title. This was pretty advanced for the time… and, unfortunately, quite buggy. A convoluted installation and configuration process guaranteed that only the most tech-savvy Windows users… or at least those with too much time on their hands… would be able to find the correct WDM drivers and configure the WebTV application. I was one of them (most likely the latter). Another memorable bug caused the entire OS to crash if one scrolled through the TV listings too quickly. But, this was a start.

At this time I had TV tuning on both a Mac and a PC working side-by-side. I was becoming more involved with Linux and started experimenting with V4L (Video 4 Linux) on my now dual-booting PC. The tuner I had chosen happened to use the BT878 chipset, which was compatible with V4L. Complete luck, but planning such compatibility is key of you hope to dabble in both environments these days. While Video 4 Linux lacked much of the polish found on the other platforms, it was fully functional. By 1998 I had successfully installed and evaluated computer-based tv solutions for Windows, Mac, and Linux. I had no idea that these well-organized experiments in wasted time and geekiness would evolve into a real industry.

EyeTV (now called EyeTV
USB) from El Gato Systems.
Simplicity and reliability.
No interactive guide.

Fast forward to 2002. The tuner card has been removed from my media PC and I am still using the ATI Xclaim card as the second video card in my Mac (now a more modern G4). When OS X arrived, the TV viewing app no longer worked and I was forced into a TV-less computer work environment. Eventually, I discovered the EyeTV by El Gato Systems. A small usb-based tv tuner that offered reliable, good-quality television recordings. I was back in business. A single cable to my Mac and I could watch and record shows. With the handy Watson software from Karelia I could browse listings just as I had with WebTV as well as schedule recordings with a single click. A few months ago, Karelia sold their technology to Sun (who will most likely squander it as they have with all of their other initiatives) and suddenly, Watson was no longer being developed. To add insult to injury, TVGuide.com, the source for the Watson TV listings, changed their listing format to Flash. Watson could not parse this, and I was left with the clunky, unreliable listings from Titan TV. This would not do.

Tivo, the most popular consumer
digital video recorder.

About a month ago, I started seriously considering Tivo. Several friends (George and Keith) had great success with Tivo. They sang songs of praise about it daily. I was jealous… a little. Then Tivo started to make some questionable decisions. It was announced that graphic ads (sort of like pop-ups) would appear while users fast-forwarded through commercials. That, in addition to the monthly fee/lifetime service cost, convinced me that Tivo was most likely not the route to take. (A few other things such as the current inability to share recorded shows with computers and requiring a landline for initial setup were factors as well.) I forged ahead determined to find a computer-based solution…

Continued in Part 2…

During the day, I develop web pages for a financial institution. For a long time, my primary hobby was an extension of my “day job” (including this website). I enjoy the challenge of a complicated application embedded in a stark online layout. Tons of functionality, light on the eye-candy, easy to use. However, I found that spending all of my time in front of a computer coding web pages resulted in a light burn out. Although I enjoy coding, too much of it and I became numb… even disconnected from the code. If you have a favorite meal, and it is all you eat for a month, it won’t be your favorite for long. So, I expanded this to home networking, home automation, home theater control, blah… blah… blah… Still too much of the same. Time for something different.

Cars. I’ve always had a strong interest in cars. Yet, I never knew that much about the real inner workings of them. I had a project car with a few bolt-on extras. I didn’t need it to get me to work every day. A perfect opportunity to try something new. I went in elbows-deep. I learned a lot. I got another car. I spent more time (and money) on that one too. Even my daily driver has had it’s share of modifications. This was more like it. My mind was still stimulated, but without the procedural constraints of code. There’s as much sweat as thought in the process. Oh, yes, of course there’s one more benefit. You can go fast. Good times.

An extension of my car hobby snuck up on me rather unexpectedly. A friend invited me to the Waterford Hills Road Racing course. This twisty 1.6 mile track entertains hundreds of SCCA club competitors and spectators. I ended up lending a hand, and eventually started working on the crew of a Spec Racer team. I’ve learned far more than I ever planned about suspension setup, engine internals, and tire choice. The friendships formed at the track have become some of my best. I also, unexpectedly, met the wonderful woman who would later become my wife at the track! (Our driver’s daughter… which means he has crew for life!)

In addition to working on the Spec Racer team, I’ve recently began competing in Detroit-area SCCA Solo 2 events. Although I’m not quite “competitive” yet, I’m having a lot of fun, and of course, learning a lot. When I have a chance, I try to take one of my cars to Milan Dragway. It’s a good quick speed fix while providing a valuable set of metrics the evaluate the modifications I’ve made. The down side to automotive hobbies… er… interests? Cost. Cars and their parts are expensive. Each incremental improvement in performance proves to be more and more addictive. Not a good combination.

Another costly pursuit is music. Not only does performing require having the right equipment, but recording (whether it by in your home studio, or at a professional studio) can cost thousands. Although there is some potential to make a few dollars performing, it’s usually only enough to pay for gas or drinks for the night.

It appeared as though I had a collection of interests that were fighting for funding as well as attention. I tried to solve this with yet another distraction: Lego Mindstorms. I could vent my creative build-up, contain my programming urges, and exercise my engineering interest with a collection of re-usable pieces combined with a flexible, yet relatively simple programming language. Perfect! A relatively small initial investment and I had all of the basic parts I needed to get started. Two more sets later and I have enough parts to keep me going for years without another significant expenditure. I’ve found Legos to be therapeutic… relaxing even. So far, it has proven to be a good compromise.

I still return to my other interests on a regular basis, although with less intensity than before. I have a collection of car parts to be installed, ideas for new music, and websites to maintain. I’m trying to focus on our music and recording until I have room (possibly at a new house) to work on my cars properly. Of course, if we do move, the new house will be our “hobby”, at least momentarily…

I’ve made a hobby of my interests. Until I can focus on one, and only one, I doubt I’ll excel at any one of them. I’m always hungry to learn. That’s the common thread between these diversions. I’m enjoying learning. Although being competitive in Solo 2, mastering the guitar, and exploiting the latest web technology are great aspirations, I’m quite content learning about all of them, rather than limiting myself to only one.

Further information and related links:
Rogerbox. The band mentioned above.
Waterford Hills Race Track
Lego Mindstorms
My First Project Car
My Second Project Car
My Daily Driver
Our Seasonal Race Results
Photos From A Recent Solo 2 Event
Photos From A Recent Waterford Race
Ann Arbor Lego Robotics Group

About 15 months ago, I wrote the first part of this article. I had just bought my Camaro and I was in heaven. I had no idea how addictive this could be. Since then, I have bought a 2002 Subaru Impreza WRX Sport Wagon, completed a number of modifications on both cars, and driven both of them at various type of race tracks. They’ve seen a little action on the street, but most has been limited to Milan Dragway and Waterford Hills road course. I’ve started attending Impreza Club meetings and install days, and I’ve become more involved with a small group of friends’ local projects. Of course, I’m still working as a crew member of Glenn Gehrke’s Spec Racer Team.

The scene is about the same as I mentioned last time. However, I find fewer five-liters on the road and more sport compacts. Some of them are pretty mean, most of them are all bark and no bite. The people that don’t need to brag still don’t, and those that should not, still do. There are still many people that are happy to be a part of this whole experience. They return to their desk job the next day with dirty fingernails and head to the garage as soon as they get home at night. After a while you need to be in and around a car. Winters can lead to severe withdrawal in this state. Often, you’ll find yourself in the garage, under the hood of your car, just looking. Wanting and waiting for the weather to break.

All in all it’s a rush. Not just the driving of, but the working on cars. Tweaking a few settings just a little… 5 more hp for an hour of work. One step at a time. Recently I helped a friend install a supercharger in his car. It wasn’t easy, but it was fun. It’s more than just talking some trash and peeling out at every red light. It’s about the work that goes into your car and the friends you make while doing it. Everything contributing to this entire experience.

I’m not saying that driving isn’t a rush. Especially when you get out on an actual race track.

My first experience was at a dragstrip. I took my Camaro out to get a feel for it. As I wait in the queue, my heart starts to jackhammer into my throat. My body goes a little limp from the anxiety. Suddenly, my adrenaline reaches it’s redline. The official points me to my lane and I warm up my tires with a long, steady burnout. The smell of liquefied rubber fills the air as smoke billows from the car’s hindquarters. Oddly, this otherwise violent display of torque actually calms me as I lined up at the staging lights. Two pair of pale yellow bulbs greet me. Without warning, the light tree comes to life: Red, yellow, yellow, (lay on the accelerator), green. Tires spinning. Struggling for traction. My right foot lifts for a half-second and suddenly I have grip. I’m pushed deep into my seat and my neck strains against the g-forces. The Camaro pulls hard through second. Entering third, it chirps it’s tires in defiance of Newton’s laws. Just as I reach 100 mph, I shift into fourth and I’m across the finish line. 13.82 seconds at 104 mph. I realize that I’ve just started breathing again and wonder how long I was holding my breath. I pick up the timeslip and verify my time. Good thing there’s a wait before I can run again. Gotta pull myself together. Damn sweet.

Road racing is an entirely different experience. There’s a lot of strategy involved. You have to know the limitations of the track, the car, and yourself. Then, add the chaos of a dozen other cars and mother nature (road racing continues in all conditions). More often than not, you will find yourself pushed into the side of your seat, instead of the back. Lateral G’s are what this is about. Riding the razor’s edge… stay on the track, but just barely.

My first experience with road racing was at this year’s Waterford Hills fun run. I drove my Camaro as well as a purpose built race car (Spec Racer Renault). The two cars are at the opposite ends of the spectrum. The Camaro has great power out of the hole. It corners well, but you are quite aware of the car’s yaw as you shred around a hairpin turn. The Spec Racer accelerates better than I expected (4-banger, 4-speed), but nothing frightening. However it sticks to the track like velcro. It’s the most unnatural sensation I’ve yet felt in a car. I found myself in disbelief of the endless available grip. Sadly, constant stopping (due to the lap policy) and degrading track conditions hurt my best times. But, I learned a lot about different set ups. There is very little shared between a race car and road car. A difference of five degrees of camber is HUGE. Acceleration isn’t everything (even though I turned much better times in my Camaro, taking first place in my group), technique IS.

After all of this, my greatest realization is that talk is nothing. Get out there and do it. Work on a car, even your parent’s minivan. Get your hands dirty. Change your own oil. Learn how things work. If you break something fix it. Think about what you’re doing. If you loose traction, don’t just assume you need new tires. Think about your suspension and chassis rigidity. If you’re a few tenths slower than you would like. Think about your technique before blowing a fat “G” on performance mods. Are you launching right? Are you shifting right?

Most importantly, think. If you’re lining up with somebody at a school crossing, you’re looking for trouble. Laws are there for a reason. I know that part of the excitement of the culture is to “get away with it,” but be safe. Research your mods. A 3″ exhaust with no cats might sound cool and up your horsepower, but you will loose low-end torque (in most cases). You won’t realize any benefit until you ride it to the redline in every gear at the strip. Before you talk trash, consider who you’re talking to. Why make an enemy when you have a chance to meet somebody that could teach you something?

Learning something new and trying something new will always be more interesting than doing the same thing and pretending to know everything.

When I’m wrong I’m REALLY wrong! We barely touched our food, we talked the entire time. Since we were in the middle of our conversation, I had to think fast to extend our date (the restaurant was closing). We hopped in the car and drove into Royal Oak. We had a drink at Memphis Smoke, then had some coffee at Comet Burger. We didn’t stop talking the entire time. It was amazing! We had EVERYTHING in common. At the end of the night we decided that we should watch a movie that had come up in our conversation some time. The next day, we were doing just that. Things just kept getting better from there.

Last Friday Gina and I went out to recreate our first date for our anniversary. She didn’t know what we were doing, but a few minutes into the drive, I think she had it pretty well figured out. Apart from a not-so-friendly visit with the local law enforcement (it was a prom night, so we were pulled over and harassed for no reason, then I was given a b.s. ticket for not having my vehicle registration signed), the entire night went wonderfully.

We had dinner at Benihana, then a quick stop at Memphis Smoke, followed by a Boston Cooler at Comet Burger. The entire evening I was preoccupied with the time. Which I dismissed as concern over a production file push at work. I explained that I was expecting a call to tell me if things were o.k. or not. We left for home.

In all truth I was incredibly nervous. Two of my close friends and coworkers agreed to help me set up the evening. While we were enjoying dinner and drinks, Joy, Brad and his girlfriend, Melissa were busy preparing the next scene…

About 2 miles from the house I got a text message on my phone. About a minute later the phone rang. Again, I kept calm, completed my discussion, and continued driving. We parked in the back and walked into the house.

Kacey was barking wildly in her crate downstairs, so Gina offered to let her out, but I suggested that she not worry about that for the moment. Then, pointing at the kitchen floor, I said, “What’s this?” Gina asked me what was going on, I told her to follow them and we’ll find out.

We walked through the kitchen, then the hall, and into the living room. Looking around the room, Gina gasped, “Oh my goodne… OH MY GOD!”, as tears welled up in her eyes, she waved her hands nervously in front of her face. With that I picked up the ring, got down on my left knee, took her hand and said:

On Saturday, June 1^st, at 12:05 am, I asked Gina to marry me. She said yes. I’ve never been so happy… scared… nervous… and relieved in my life.

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Jackass. It’s a great show. Usually a group of twenty-somethings run around hitting their heads and getting smacked in the genitals. Brilliant. Every straight male on the planet worshiped that crap. Including me. It was fun to watch, but I’d never try anything they did on that show, except one thing…

The Gumball 3000 is a 3000 mile road rally across Europe (traditionally). In 2001, the participants traveled from Great Britain to Russia and back in 5 days. It’s a giant party with no sleep, little food, a lot of caffeine, and a shitload of adrenaline. Immediately I wanted to participate.

I knew immediately that most of those people lived lives far different than mine. They were playboys, entrepreneurs, movie stars, and rich daddy’s boys with six-digit weekly allowances. It had to be expensive. As soon as the hour-long special ended I began my research. In a few days I had created a promotional website, composed an introduction letter/request to participate, and began looking for funding.

We initially anticipated the cost to be around $7,000 USD. After a little more digging and research we adjusted that to $10,000 USD. Pricey, but still possible with a little financial help. Why the cost increase? We initially discovered the Gumball 3000 through MTV’s Jackass series. So did 30,000 other people. Part of the cost increase may have been designed to thin out the initial flood of entries. (There are only 100 grid spots.)

We did a little prep on the car and some additional sponsorship research, but heard nothing from the Gumball committee. Several months after our initial and follow-up e-mails to the committee we were contacted by some of the Gumball message board members. Somebody had stumbled onto our site and filled out a contact form. The initial response was VERY positive. A few more e-mails from confirmed participants trickled in, but we had no official word yet.

A couple of months later we received another contact e-mail from a message board member that was, at best, depressing. He stated that he thought we were trying to get money from outside sources too vigorously, that it was very expensive (hint: we couldn’t afford it), and that if we didn’t have an entry form yet we wouldn’t be getting one (i.e. GIVE UP). That was a lot to stomach at once. I figured that he was probably right on at least the last point. So, I posted a simple update on the site:

About a week later (Christmas Eve, actually…), a shiny, over-sized, silver envelope arrived in my mail. I set it aside as I rushed to get ready for the holidays at my parent’s house. When we returned that evening, I went though my mail. Normally I would have just tossed such an obvious piece of junkmail, but I opened it anyway. To my shock, a brightly colored entry form and sticker fell to the floor. I turned over the small circular sticker to see the Gumball 3000 logo stare back at me. A cold sweat instantly covered my body. Could it be?

I read the brochure/entry form several times in disbelief. We made the final round of selection. The first 100 entry forms back to the committee were in! (I knew that over 70 grid spots had already been claimed.) A million thoughts ran through my head at once. Where would we find the cash? Would we get the form back in time? Could the car withstand seven-thousand miles in 2 weeks (we would have to drive to New York to begin the rally and back from L.A. after the close of the event)? I also noticed that the final entry fee had increased to 7,050 Pounds Sterling (~$15,000)… ouch. It was possible that we would could afford this if we had a large sponsor (that would have to be approved by the Gumball committee before the event).

Obstacles steadily began to pile into the path of our participation. The cost was greater than we anticipated, our work schedules began to threaten our timeline, and we were given the run around by the few large companies that might have an interest in our participation in such an event.

There is still a small chance that we will still be able to take part in the Gumball 3000. The greatest issue is the cost. For that fact alone, the increased cost has proven effective… consider us filtered out. (The buzz hints that the inflated entry fee is to skim the best of the best from the possible entrants. A movie is being planned based on the Gumball rally, and they want to ensure the most interesting people possible take part. Apparently, we couldn’t afford to be interesting enough.

However, we propose an alternative to this rich man’s race. It is not our intention to compete with the Gumball. There’s no way we could possibly hope to do that. We just want to have fun without blowing $15k. Contemplate this:

• < $100 entry fee
• 500 mile route
• 2 stops along the way to make asses of ourselves
• Anything that’s highway legal is allowed
• No pretentious aspirations
• Fun for fun’s sake

I’m working on this possibility now. Many details need to be worked out. The event would most likely happen at the end of the summer (late August?). Expect more updates soon.

Further information and related links:

Today, many developers openly brag about their 250,000 line application: “Just let (the next guy) try to figure THAT out!” Although this may ensure job security, it is truly no way to better your development environment. What is to be gained by a 250,000 line application that performs the same task as a 10,000 line script? Unless you’re paid by the bit, nothing.

A little over a year ago, our team inherited code from another group. We’re responsible for a major online financial resource, offering information and services to tens of thousands of visitors daily. Our team is web targeted and trained. We know good code, back end to front end. The original team consisted of desktop application developers accustomed to long development cycles, endless code, and poor communication. They built the original site as if it were a desktop app. That’s all fine and good if you’re in a market that moves at a snail’s pace, but the financial marketplace is constantly redefining itself. We couldn’t afford to have six month code cycles.

The first thing to go were object oriented (OO) tools for generating html. I’m not just talking about off-the-shelf products. The old team actually wrote Visual Basic and C++ applications to generate and/or compile their html for them. While I can appreciate the inner workings of their code, I can’t justify it’s use. With such tools we lost all flexibility. The smallest change required the use of cumbersome tools and a lot of waiting. Rule 1: If you can code it by hand, do so. Application wizards and assistants can be useful if you’re stuck. We must remember, however, that these tools were developed to help everyone to anything. A specially tailored code solution will to the job as well, if not better, with less code.

Another thing we noticed almost immediately was the complete lack of inline comments in the code. The comments that were found were more enigmatic than the code itself. Clear comments will help you when writing your closing docs (covered later) and assist when you have to debug your code later. In most cases, comments cause no extra bloat in modern code. Compilers ignore them, as do most modern runtime interpreters. The one glaring exception to this is HTML. Not only will those comments cause code-bloat, they can be a little too helpful to some visitors snooping through your code.

Reusable code is key. Not only can it save time, it limits possible points of failure while reducing the total number of lines of code. Although good reusable code may take longer to prepare initially, you will save time in the long run. Be prepared for future features, but you don’t have to implement code for them. A lot of the excess code in the old site was placed there for future changes that never happened. (Some things were as surplus as directories for features that were never needed or even planned on!) Simply recognize that changes will be made at some point to some of your code. Don’t code it into a circle. Make sure others can add to it easily. (Use clearly defined variables, group similar functions together, etc.)

Agree on a standard for variables and general code format early in the development cycle. If existing projects established these standards already, use them. Depending on your environment, you may have different formatting standards for different languages. Keep this to a minimum whenever possible. When size restrictions permit, limit the use of obscure abbreviations. (You may know that intlStatMtd means “internal status method”, but somebody else most likely won’t, unless you’ve established this in a comment or doc.)

All coders hate writing documentation, yet we all complain when we have to work on a project for which there is none. It is a necessary evil. There are a few things we can do to make writing and maintaining docs a little less painful. Use a template; most pro shops have established doc templates with an outline of the suggested content ready for you to fill out. If your shop does not yet have one, find an example of one you like on the internet and present it to your team leader. You’ll get a gold star on your forehead as well as some peace of mind. If you’ve included good comments in your code, consider yourself half-done already. Start cutting and pasting. Most projects start out with a spec. Most of the intro content for you doc can be pulled directly from the spec. Finally, remember to update your docs when changes are made to your code.

All in all, good code is the result of conditioning:

• Brevity is bliss. Nobody likes a joke that takes forever to get to the punch line. (Exception: Comeback College. Ask George.)
• Stay away from packaged solutions. They’re for everyone, not just you.
• Write good comments, it’ll help if you fall on your head mid-code.
• Write methods and functions that can be reused. Nobody likes code-bloat.
• Standardize your code format. It just looks so damn pretty.
• Write and maintain accurate documentation. You can tell your friends that you’re a programmer and an author.

Well, what are you waiting for? Why are you reading this? Don’t you have code to write?! Get to it!

Further information and related links:

Last night, Brian and I were watching a program on the History Channel about the manufacturing of aircraft during World War 2. Women were riveting while balancing on aircraft frames with no protective glasses, midgets (I kid you not) crawled inside wings to push rivets through with no regard for physical safety. Nobody complained, they just worked their asses off for love of country. Patriotism aside, these people were in real danger. Today a dozen safety commissions would have regulated those factories to a crawl. I’m all about safety, but the only governing regulation controlling those workers was common sense. If you shot a rivet through your foot it was your own goddamn fault for pointing it there. Not the rivet gun manufacturer’s (for not having a safety), or the factory for not training you better. You just knew that if you pointed the rivet gun at your foot you were going to feel some pain.

Part of the reason we have so many stupid adults is the fact that they’re not thinning out in childhood. (I’m about to come dangerously close to Dana Carvey’s grumpy old man character, so hold on…) Back in the day, there were things like six foot tall jungle gyms shaped like rocket ships embedded in a concrete foundation. It was every healthy child’s goal to climb to the top of that death trap. Often children fell, if they were lucky, they landed on another kid. However, they were much more likely to land squarely on their ass at the bottom of the playscape. Sure, they cried a little bit, but the next time they scrambled up that metallic skeleton, they sure as hell held on a little tighter and watched their footing a little more carefully. If they didn’t they were stupid. If they were stupid they probably weren’t going to make the cut anyway.

Today, the closest thing to those heaps of scrap iron shaped into spacecraft is the playscape (much more politically correct than “jungle gym”, eh?). Gone are the metal slides that would reach temperatures of 200 degrees fahrenheit, melting the outer layer of skin off of any child that dared brave it’s perils. They have been replaced by brightly colored, curvey plastic slides. Anything even remotely sharp has either been filled down, covered with rubber or removed. Playgrounds are covered in some bizarre soft rubber material so kids can fall down with out skinning a knee or bumping their heads. How can we expect children to understand that falling down is dangerous if it really doesn’t hurt that bad?! It’s more dangerous for little Timmy to walk down the street with his mother than it is for him to run full bore, headlong into a pile of his favorite toys.

We were never required to don a helmet before mounting our training wheel equipped, banana seat sportin’ Schwinns. Our only hope was to throw ourselves in the direction of the nearest lawn in the event of a bail. Skateboarding was a different story, even I wore pads when attempting to skate. A helmet though? No way! Those things were too damn expensive… but I knew my limits and respected them. Sure, I smacked my head many times, but I’m pretty much o.k. today. That’s where the soft-skulled idiots with no sense of balance come in.

Kids today live without fear for their actions. If they fall they’re protected. If they make a mistake, chances are they can try it again without harm. They are sheltered from the gore of daily living. They never see the horror of the real world. I remember when an anvil falling on a coyote was a laugh riot. Today no animator would even dare draw that. They be sued and fired in an instant. Kids a so protected that they wouldn’t have to common sense to know that they shouldn’t drop an anvil on their little brother. Because some kids have lived without fear for the results of their actions they decide that they can march into school and start shooting. They don’t know pain, they don’t fear the outcome. They never fell off of their bike while doing 30 mph downhill. Maybe that would have knocked some sense into them.

If these idiots do make it to adulthood (and they have a lot better change today than they did 10 years ago), they will do anything they can to prove that they do not deserve to exist. They are the ones that don’t know that coffee is hot. Thank them for the fast food coffee cups the words “Caution!!!! HOT!!!!!” blaring at you in 20 different languages. They are the ones in their giant SUVs talking on their cell phones while rolling along at 10 mph under the speed limit. They are the one that are still driving those SUVs on tires that were recalled because they explode causing rollover accidents. It is those people that make life difficult for people with a grain a common sense.

Head’s up!

It is time to stop holding everyone’s hand. If the oven is hot, don’t stick your head in it. If we let common sense rule, our rulers might have common sense.

I’ve been working with internet-related technology since 1993 (that’s before the world wide web actually existed in any formal way for you young-ins). I’ve been coding html since 1994… back before html tables even existed. I continue to stay on top of the latest trends and technology. I also work for a well known software company that has a number of very popular commerce and financial web sites. I am part of the machine.

When I started investigating the web, it was nothing more than an extension of the bulletin board systems (BBS) that I had used throughout my high school life to find software and talk to other geeks. It was a mysterious entity that very few people knew about. Back then, it was nothing more than a few gopher (kind of like limited telnet interfaces running from menus rather than complete command-lines), ftp, and usenet (newsgroup) servers. There was no reason for non-computer-types to use it (i.e. no pictures) and it was great. It was an uncensored, unregulated, open space for people to express themselves and exchange ideas. There were no advertisements or intrusive pop-up windows. Just raw, pure information streaming onto the screen at a blistering 9600 bps.

Within a few months the web began to evolve. Hyperlinks and html were the “hot new thing.” I discovered lynx, followed shortly by Mosaic. The colored text and click-able interface entranced me. There was no turning back. Ads were still a rarity, as was much valuable content. Occasionally an opportunity to buy something online presented itself, but e-commerce was still in it’s infancy (at best). Mere months later, gifs and even jpegs were commonplace. Online porn started to appear en masse. The internet was still untamed. It was the wild west of the information age, just coming into it’s own. People flocked to the web in search of quick wealth. Small businesses were suddenly on equal ground as the big boys. I started to work with html professionally and even worked with/co-owned a few start-ups… I wasn’t even 21 yet.

Then, the online goldrush hit. Companies erupted from the digital horizon. Big names poured massive amounts of green into their online presence. People that had never turned a computer on in their life rushed to consumer electronics stores eager to buy anything that could get “online.” The electronic frontier started to tilt towards corporate control. Small businesses could no longer compete on a level field with the big boys. They began to over-regulate and under-perform while remaining over-valued.

Even web development became corporate. I admit that I sold-out early, but I was fortunate enough to join a big company (with big funding) that maintained a young start-up’s attitude. The area’s most hip development houses were gobbled up by large communication companies or ad agencies. Some entrepreneurs retired young, others dressed up their resumes and went job hunting. People altogether stopped visiting Joe-Nobody’s online bookstore and flocked to Amazon. URLs floated at the bottom of every television commercial. Microsoft even admitted that this whole internet thing might be more than a fad.

Without warning, the iNvasion began. Apple Computer introduced the iMac personal computer. It was friendly, easy to use, and came in pretty colors. Everybody jumped on the bandwagon. People bought candy-colored cd players, file cabinets, even fat-free grills! Everything suddenly became iEnabled, from radios to fishing poles. The internet candle had been burning with the power of a solar flare, it couldn’t last forever… and it didn’t.

Suddenly, Wallstreet recognized that companies, even those with pretty web sites, aren’t worth anything unless they make money. What a concept. The value of such “promising” newcomers as pets.com, Disney’s go.com, and even seasoned veterans like toysrus.com and AOL began to show weakness. During a business trip to Silicon Valley, I observed dozens of vacant offices that very well might have housed such almost-made-a-profit companies like e-pickles.com or iDoormat.net.

The corporate world made a mistake. They barged in too early, pissing gasoline onto a raging inferno. With a mindset of “if the little guy can do it, we can do it bigger and better”, they flooded the digital domain with lawyers, committees, and uninformed stockholders. The machine stripped the innocence and curiosity of the web and force fed bite-sized chunks of information to the masses. They over-analyzed every detail, micro-managed every feature, and over-produced every project. The collective online public willingly rolled up their sleeves and overdosed on corporate bullshit.

Companies are bailing on the digital new world. Business analysts are directing their over-paid, suit-wearing, project managers to escape while they can, like rats leaving a sinking ship. Corporations are scaling back their online business strategies and re-evaluating their technology budgets. Good.

After the dust has settled there will be a vast wasteland, abandoned by corporate America. It will be up to us, the connected community, to restore the internet to it’s former lustre. The corporate world will watch us, preparing for the next “big thing.” We will continue to share real information with each other. Idea will be free and technology will flourish once again. We will not be hindered by non-disclosure agreements or departmental approval.

Sure, some companies will remain, but the ones that will truly succeed are the ones that know their place and are capable of co-existing with the rest of us. They will understand that they don’t have to buy up competition to succeed, they just have to compete. They don’t have to advertise during the superbowl, they just have to deliver what they promise. They don’t have to micro-manage, they just have to work hard. Like the rest of us.

Further information and related links:

I wasn’t really a part of it, but I longed to be. My 1984 Chevrolet Eurosport was the embodiment of everything that was wrong with the American “cookie-cutter” car. The anemic 2.8 liter V6 was disgustingly underpowered. The throttle-body inducted engine hesitated to every command of the accelerator. Dave tried to make me feel better by explaining the lineage of that damned car. The Chevelle became the Malibu, the Malibu became the Celebrity, and the Celebrity was the Eurosport. I have no idea why it was given that name. (Interestingly enough, the Eurosport became the Beretta, which once again became the Malibu… in a sad V6, front-wheel-dive incarnation.) I had what fun I could with my sickly little car. I added a PA system that allowed me to heckle other motorists and torture drive-through attendants at Burger King. I did what I could with the stereo and even replaced the stock exhaust with a real Cherry Bomb muffler. It almost sounded good.

When that car was on it’s last leg I sold it. It wasn’t long for this world and I was sure it couldn’t take the hour and a quarter drive to and from Novi (where I worked at the time) every day. I replaced it with a (used) 1989 Chrysler LeBaron GTC. Not too impressed, eh? That car was amazing. The ride was as smooth as my parent’s LHS with just as many goodies (LH series climate controls and navigation). Let’s not forget the potent little turbocharged 4 banger under the hood. This sleeper could embarrass most stock Fox Bodies found making the rounds on Gratiot every night in the summer. Alas, this car was the victim of overwork and undersleep. Following several 14 hour days and an all night phone/mind game with an ex-girlfriend I began to doze off while driving through a malfunctioning blinking yellow light. The rest is history.

My next car was my first real muscle car… well, at least it looked like one. A co-worker was selling her 1989 Pontiac Firebird Formula. Red, T-tops, V8, 245 rubber on 16-inch wheels. I could tell immediately that it wasn’t as fast as the LeBaron, but I thought it had more potential. If I only knew then what I know now. Like the Eurosport before it, it breathed and drank through TBI, a power-robbing alternative to the less environmentally-friendly carburetor. Apparently, that year there were 3 V8 options for the Firebird. The TPI 350ci Formula 350/Trans Am, the TPI 305ci Formula, and the 305ci TBI Formula. The latter of the three, while still a V8, produced a sad 170 hp! There were so many tree-hugger mods on the thing that it lost 100 hp to the 350! I did what I could over the years and currently have it near an honest 250 hp. I still own it and it continues to run great.

Once I was working full time I was able to afford my first new car. I leased a 1998 Subaru Impreza RS. It was the first import anyone in my immediate family has ever owned. Impressed by the recent World Rally Championship wins and the performance of the 2.5 liter, horizontally opposed, boxer engine (~165 hp, 5 less hp than the Formula’s stock output, and half the size… in both cylinders and displacement) mated to full-time all-wheel-drive. The Impreza is absolutely a thrill to drive while providing a safe means of transport during the dreaded Michigan winters. While researching this car I began to find out more about the import scene… both good and bad. There seemed to be a strong following with a lot of promise. I admit to being pretty old school when it comes to pure power, yet I’m impressed by what some of these guys do with their Civics and Talons. Some of my closest friends are very involved in the import racing scene. We’ve had many discussions about Detroit iron vs. Import technology. Most of us still respect each other at the end of every “discussion.”

My latest endeavor is a 1999 Chevrolet Camaro Z-28. I firmly believe that I’ve finally done the right thing. The car has plenty of power and unlimited potential. I’d love to install a supercharger, upgrade the suspension, and bolt on bigger wheels and tires. However, for now this is more than I need.

It all comes back to what Dave Damore said. It’s good enough… for now.

Also available: Part 2

Brian:

I kind of hold the same attitude towards music as I do towards PC games. Try it out for free (crack, illegal copying, or otherwise) but if you like it, just buy the damn CD or game. I liked solder of fortune, so I bought it. It was worth $29.95.

Think about it though… even if you like one song on a CD.. for the number of times that you’ll eventually listen to it, it’s worth the $15 bones or whatever you end up paying. I suppose most people just look at the up front cost and don’t realize that they’ll probably own the CD for several years and listen to it hundreds of times. I’ve definitely gotten $18 bones worth out of my Soundgarden CD.

Better yet, rip the mp3′s and send a check directly to the musician. They’ll love you.

Duane:

I have no problem paying a $5-10 fee to subscribe, but don’t cripple it. Most of the stuff that I download is one-hit wonder stuff… the kind of CDs you don’t want to clutter up your shelves. I bought the Crazy Town CD (butterfly) and it sucks… it wasn’t worth the $17 I dished out for it.

With 20 million users on napster with a $5-10 fee per month the record companies would make more than what they currently make from radio station licenses. The only difference is that they wouldn’t be able to control the radio station playlists or manhandle markets based on the per-capita mainstream.

If you’re hardcore, you can still record digital music from your cable box (music channels) and make MP3s, or just borrow a CD from your friend and rip it. This solves nothing, it’s just holding the industry back.

Personally, I plan to frequent IRC and Hotline servers a lot more and fuck the man.

Duane:

I think that streaming MP3s and personal MP3 players in cars, etc. are the next step. First there was AM radio, the FM in stereo. Now we can make personalized music selections and have access to any song any time. Since “satellite radio” has gone nowhere in the past 10 years, despite promises and a billion articles in Popular Science, the music-listening public deserves something better. CDs are over priced (you can get a friggin’ DVD for the price of most CDs!!!!!!), and often contain a handful of songs that you’ll listen to.

I like buying CDs, especially for bands that I can listen to over and over again. Sometimes I’ll download an MP3 and never listen to it again, I just wanted to hear it ONCE!!! Additionally, you can never be guaranteed that you’ll be able to find the CD you want when you want it (like that Damn “Surface” song, right, PG?). What about new releases? When Pearl Jam was at it’s peak, I couldn’t get the CD anywhere in Grosse Pointe because every store was sold out!

Brian:

My theory: The idea of “singles” off of an album is bullshit. I hate radio because they try to cherry pick songs out of a CD to make money. Would you read one chapter of a book and put it down?

I like the Zeppelin way of thought: They created albums, not songs. So what happened? Zeppelin didn’t really make a dent in the single charts at all, but they sold shitloads of records. That’s the way it needs to be done. I don’t know who Crazy Town is, but they don’t sound amicable enough for me to buy the CD, ya know?

I would say that of the CD’s I listen to, I like at least 75% of the songs on each of them. I accomplished this by not listening to songs of the radio and “nitpicking”, but networking within bands. Reading liner notes, finding out who influenced them…etc. Music is a weird thing.. in order to get true enjoyment out of it, you have to put some work into it. If you don’t, you get shallow pop songs by untalented bands that wear thin quick.

Compare it to grabbing a tabloid at the checkout as opposed to reading a good novel. Yea, you can grab the tabloid and skim through it.. easy and quick: But no content. The novel takes some effort and reading time, but I’m sure it’s going to be much more in depth and enjoyable.

Uhm. Yes.

Duane:

So, you’re saying that there a no CDs that only have a song or two that you like? Are you also saying that you can go into any RecordTown and find any song you want? I know for a fact that with your “selective” musical tastes that you can’t find what you want everywhere. If you’re paying $10/mo. you can download what you want, when you want it. I can go on napster right now and download a Dwarves song. I bet my left nut that I can’t saunter into Best Buy and do the same. How about those late nights where you coding your ass off until 4 in the morning and you need a little pick me up. Hit napster and get a song or two… any time… 24/7!

Groups don’t make the real money from CDs, they make it from merchandising, guest appearances, and tours. Album sales are designed to recoup the record labels investment in a band. If you have “x” potential, they invest “x” amount in recording, mastering, publicity, and marketing. Then they expect your album sales to pay them back. Most groups don’t meet the estimates, but the 1% that do make up for the rest with a fat price tag of $15-20 a CD. The little guys get pinched out of the sphincter of the big labels.

Record companies need to let go of the old model and incorporate napster and electronic music distribution into their plans. Rather than pressing a billion CDs and giving half of them away, publicize and release music to radio stations electronicly (192k is better than FM radio quality).

’nuff said.

Brian:

(I think everyone’s probably sick of this by now) But I like all the Dwarves songs.

Any CD’s with one or two songs I like? Honesty? There aren’t. I should say “There aren’t that I know of”. If there are, then that band shouldn’t be making a record and I won’t give them my attention or $$$. I buy into bands, not songs. Hopefully the ones I give my $$$ will turn around and make yet another awesome record. It’s worked for Speedealer and Supersuckers, and Ultra Bide, and …well, you get the idea.

I also don’t buy into the “give me convenience or death” way of life. Look how fat it’s got us so far. If you want something to last and be meaningful, put some work into it. It works with web sites, right? Try it with music!

When purchasing CDs however, you just need to know where to look: Repeat the Beat (Plymouth and Royal Oak), Record Collector, Tower Records in AA, Schoolhouse Records, Half Moon Records… that’s just a start.

Most of the time you can get the CD you want used for 1/4 as much as you’d pay for it new. I got that Mazzy Star CD for $5.00!!! Works like a charm too, no scratches at all. I’m sure you remember after the ‘puter show.. I got like 4 CD’s for $20 bucks total!!

I’m all for the digital revolution. I just think that some things are better off not being not being that way. Sure you can shoot off an email, but it’s just sooo much cooler getting a hand-written letter (got one from Dana yesterday, with a “I Love Mullets” sticker in enclosed.. it’s going on the guitar.)

Give me the gadgets, but don’t take away the subtle things. Going around town looking for a CD with a couple friends is pure bliss. I remember running around town with Brad, Mike and Ingrid looking for that Thrall CD (which I like every song on, BTW)–found it at the AA Tower Records. I ran in there and found it and was jumping around… That was so much fun! For some reason, I just don’t think I would have the same memories downloading them from Napster.

I agree with the money shit. Hence my send a check directly to the musician, or stay away from the major labels (which generally don’t inhabit my musical domain much anyway). Once you’re in the band thing for a while, you start to learn how it works.. and why I feel the way I do. Bands & People(r) don’t pick the music they listen to off of FM, the suited-corporate-drone-A&R guys do. How does that single sound now? I’ll pick my own. It’s soma for the masses, baby! (Thrall quote)

Ok, I have to work now

Brad:

When I grow up I want to be DW.

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All of these are great points. I leave the conclusion of this discussion to you. Can this emerging technology kill new bands and cripple big record companies? Will it allow radio stations to share new music that would otherwise never be heard? Will it cost $9.95 a month and require a contract?

We’ll see…

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Further information and related links:

Napster
Speak out against restricting Napster
Artists Agains Piracy
Make Lars happy, he needs the money…]]> http://www.leinninger.com/2001/02/21/greedster/feed/ 0 http://www.leinninger.com/2000/12/07/silicon-valley-ho/ http://www.leinninger.com/2000/12/07/silicon-valley-ho/#comments Thu, 07 Dec 2000 05:00:00 +0000 Duane http://etc.leinninger.com/info/news#4

Every summer when I was growing up, Joey Ford came out to my neighborhood to visit his grandparents from Milpitas, California, located in the heart of blossoming Silicon Valley. He told me unbelievable things like his elementary school locker was outside of all places, and he only wore a light sweater or a windbreaker in December. When his mom came out to visit I asked her if it was true, she assured me that he was telling the truth. She worked for a new software company. I’m sure she’s quite wealthy now. If I had kept in touch with Joey, I would have tried to look him up…

I’ve spent the past week in Silicon Valley. It’s been a bit of a pilgrimage for me. I’ve heard so many things… both good and bad… I wanted to see for myself. The following things are true:

• My house would cost about $500k in the bay area.
• Technology is everywhere… especially Sun (the “dot” in dot-com).
• Startups are everywhere… so are a lot of unemployed entrepreneurs
• Apple headquarters is as cool as everyone says.
• Living expenses are really THAT high.

The following things are false:

• Everyone in Silicon Valley is/looks cool.
• Everyone earns six figures a year.
• Everyone is happy.
• It never rains.

I learned a lot while I was out there (more than just the user data that we were collecting). There is a great need to fill positions in the bay area, but there’s nowhere to live within an hour’s drive… at least not at what those positions will pay. I’m sure there are more six figure salaries out there than here, but that money won’t stay in the bank for very long. Rent, food, gas, and entertainment costs are through the roof.

A few nights the weather was great… mid-fifties with clear skies. However that doesn’t justify the inflated cost. The views are nice… if you can deal with the traffic to get to them. The culture is unique… if you can deal with the eccentricities of it. The cars don’t rust and stay clean longer, but there’s nowhere to drive in the city.

I hate to say it, but Silicon Valley isn’t what I expected. It was dirty more often than hip. It’s more expensive than Southern California and not as nice. There’s a huge cluster of hi-tech opportunities but there’s a plethora of low-tech complications and problems. Maybe I’m used to the mid-west. Maybe I’m just a boring Michigander (gawd, I hate that word… it sounds like we should all be laying eggs), but this state isn’t that bad.

For now I guess my future will be here… unless prices on the coast plummet or I win the lottery.

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