I'm gleefully excited to have just completed my order for a brand new Lenovo Thinkpad T61 laptop. I've been a huge fan since my first Thinkpad 600 in 1999, followed by a T20 in 2001, and a T30 in 2003. They are extremely solid, well supported premium notebooks and are well worth the extra investment versus lesser hardware. Better yet, they were provided by work, so I didn't have to buy one. Unfortunately, my employer switched to Dell and I've been stuck with the mandated Dell D620 for the past year. I've gotten used to it, but it's no Thinkpad.

I re-tasked my current desktop as a dedicated server (more on that in a future post) and needed a replacement. My initial reaction was to buy a bunch of parts from Newegg and build a desktop myself — this is what I've done every couple of years for the past decade or so. But after I spec'd and ordered the parts, I experienced a paradigm shift: "Why are you buying a desktop when you really want a laptop." Not 30 minutes later, I receive an alert from DealNews.com that there was a 10% discount on ThinkPads. I canceled my order for a desktop and embarked on the first purchase of a laptop.

The only other laptop I considered was an Apple Macbook Pro. I just purchased one for my father-in-law and it is a great piece of hardware. Truthfully, I went Mac to recduce the number of support questions I receive (I can always claim ignorance with Mac OS.) But after using Mac OS for a while, I was slightly irritated by the interface and very irritated by a lack of free / open-source programs. I'm very specific about the software I use, and some of it does not conform to the Mac way of thinking. Plus, I'd have to re-purchase some of the software I own. The final nail in the Mac Book Pro coffin was that could get pretty much identical hardware for a half the price. Case closed; I'm a Windows / Linux control freak and will remain so for a few more years.

Here are some details on the deal I got:

• 10% coupon from DealNews.com
• 7% cash back from the American Express TailorMade program
• 3.5% cash back from FatCash.com

The Upgrades that I Picked:

• Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7300 (2.0GHz 800MHz 4MB L2 cache) — passed on the 1.8GHz 2MB L2 Cache CPU
• 14.1 WXGA+ TFT, w/ Camera — an upgrade from the lower-res WXGA / no Camera version
• NVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M (128MB) — I need this to drive my 30" Dell 3007WFP LCD monitor
• UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad) with Fingerprint Reader — upgraded to the fingerprint reader for quicker log-ons
• 100GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm — a priced-reduced upgrade from a 60GB, 5400RPM drive
• 7 cell Li-Ion Battery — the standard 3-cell battery is a joke
• ThinkPad Advanced Mini Dock – unfortunately, this is the only way to get Dual Link DVI-D output; shame on Lenovo for no on-board DVI port

The Downgrades that I Picked:

• CD-RW/DVD-ROM Combo 24X/24X/24X/8X Max, Ultrabay Slim — I don't burn DVDs, so no need to waste money on a DVD burner
• ThinkPad 11a/b/g Wi-Fi wireless LAN Mini-PCIe – I can get an Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN Laptop card off of Ebay for less than from Lenovo and don't need it unless upgrade to 802.11N wifi at home
• 512 MB PC2-5300 SDRAM DDR2 667MHz SODIMM Memory (1 DIMM) — I can order 4GB of memory from Newegg for the price Lenovo was going to charge me for 2GB; I'm not afraid to take thinks apart
• No 1GB Intel Turbo Memory Card — I'd need to get more memory to qualify for this, plus it's a standard Intel part that I can get a card cheaper off of Ebay than I could directly from Lenovo; I'm not afraid to take things apart
• Genuine Windows Vista Home Basic — the cheapest Operating System option; I already own a Windows OS — and shame on Lenovo for not offering an even cheaper Ubuntu Linux option!

Unfortunately, because I picked the WXGA+ screen with camera, it may be several weeks before I receive my new object of tech lust. I'll be sure to post when I've tried it out.

I finally got around to updating my website to version 2.2.1. The feature I was most looking forward to built-in tagging. I was a previous user of Ultimate Tag Warrior, but I had to stop using it because it broke the Wordpress search feature (posts with no tags were not included in search results.)

To my surprise, I couldn't find the tag feature or the Ultimate Tag Warrior importer. After a great deal of Google searching, I found that tagging was removed at the last minute from Wordpress 2.2.x and will be delayed until 2.3. Additionally, I found that Christine Davis release a new (actually the final) version of Ultimate Tag Warrior, , Arne Brachhold released a new version of Google Sitemap Generator, and Stewart Farquhar released a new version of Google Sitemaps - Append UTW Tags. I re-installed all three, activated them, and I'm pleased to say that everything is now working properly again.

For those who don't know these plug-ins do or why they are important, let me explain. Tags are great because they identify the keywords within a post and help link related posts together; this can help generate additional site traffic. Sitemaps are indexes for for websites; they contain a list of every page on the site so that search engines do not have to crawl through the site and look for new content. For example, here is a link to the sitemap.xml file for CarltonBale.com. The third plug-in appends the tags into the sitemap, so search engines can find the tags more easily. When they work together properly, these three plug-ins can help create additional traffic. It's called Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and there have been volumes written about it. If you're interested in learning more about Wordpress SEO, Google is your friend.

After reading an informative post by Paul Stamatiou on blog traffic, I decided to join Technorati and see what it has to offer. Truthfully, I didn't even know that it offered user accounts and statistics, but it apparently it does. Anyway, to get things started, here is a link to my Technorati Profile.

I just posted a revised version of my home theater calculator.  The new revision adds the following enhancements:

• Added feature to allow calculation of Visual Acuity Viewing Distance based on eyesight of the viewer. (The default is 20/20 vision; changing the input to 20/10 vision with show that the viewer will be able to spot resolution deficiencies at much greater distances due to more acute eyesight.)
• Fixed bug in the aspect ratio input that caused international users to have problems (problem was related to using "," as decimal delimiter instead of ".")
• Added cells to the far right of the spreadsheet to allow changing and adding custom screen aspect ratios.As

As before, the spreadsheet still has the following features:

• recommended viewing distances for a given screen size - for both flat panels and projectors (based on THX and SMPTE standards)
• recommended viewing distances for a given display resolution - 480p, 720p, 1080p/1080i, 1440p, etc (based on Visual Acuity standards)
• various screen aspect ratios (4:3, 16:9, 1.85:1, 2.35:1, custom ratios, etc.)
• projector screen size & screen brightness with guidelines for recommended values (based on projector brightness and screen gain)
• projector screen size & projector mounting location (based on min/max projector throw distances)
• seat locations, a second row stadium seating platform height calculation, and a few other goodies.

Here is the link:

http://www.carltonbale.com/home-theater/home-theater-calculator/

Seating Location: First row, 2 seats right of center
Show Rating: 4/5
Crowd Rating: 3/5

I was fortunate enough to get some pre-sale, front row tickets to O.A.R. and, after zero effort, convinced my friend Luke Shiver to join me. We left Columbus after work and headed south to Louisville. With a couple of hours to kill, I suggested we give Browing's Brew Pub a try. The place was packed because the Riverbats had a game, but it quickly cleared-out. I had two different beers (one was average, the other quite tasety, but I don't remember the names) but it was the Hot Brown I enjoyed the most. I'm definitely back in Kentucky now.

Parking was a cinch both outside the restaurant, and then again outside the Palace Theatre. In downtown Indy, there's no way I could have found free street parking 2 blocks for either a baseball game or a concert.

The last time I visited the Palace Theatre was for a Dave Mathews and Tim Reynolds concert in February, 1999. It all came back to me as I walked past the ample bar area and peered into the auditorium. We grabbed a couple of drinks and headed to our seats. We initially sat in the first row of the orchestra section and I was bummed that there were 3 more rows in front of us. I then realized the tickets were for the first row of the pit section, just two seats outside the center, touching the stage. I was so close to the microphones that I could read the set list. Clearly, this is the best way to see a concert.

The average age of the audience was higher than any other O.A.R. show I've attended, and a lot of the mid-to-late-20s and older group was in the first few rows. Older (longer-term?) fans, nothing wrong with that. They were definitely the nicest, friendliest, and most energetic O.A.R. fans I'd met.

The band took the stage and the audience around me went absolutely nuts. The whole place was electric. Despite all the crowd excitement, I felt the first two songs of the concert (see setlist below) were a little boring. I was very excited when Delicate Few started, but apparently the front row were about the only one's who were. If you've ever been to an O.A.R. concert before, you know that some crowd sing-along is to be expected on Delicate Few, Black Rock, and Poker. If not for the 8 of us in the front row on the right side (especially the guy two seats to my right), it would have been total audience humiliation. Marc Roberge acknowleged this and even pointed the microphone our way.

I was very pleased by both of the new-to-me songs that were played: Road Outside Columbus and especially See You Cry.

Not long after, when some newer songs were played, it seemed to me that everyone behind the 5th row was almost asleep. To me, the best part of a live show it the energy and interaction between the band and crowd. This group didn't compare to what I'd experienced at Bloomington or The Lawn at White River last year.

Perhaps sensing the need for an energy boost, Marc Roberge took a fan request and changed the setlist (apparently, the song name was written on a bed sheet by bedsheetGIRL15.) He walked to band-only microphone and apparently communicated the switch, and the band started playing So Moved On. This is one of my favorite O.A.R. songs and one that I hadn't heard in quite some time. The chorus of the songs includes the lyrics "with my drink in hand, I got up to stand, and I was off to a regular day." Although most casual listeners take this to be a drinking anthem, it's actually about quitting the excesses that can overtake ones life. It has resonance and I digg it.

Hearing I Feel Home is always a treat, and the pre-encore finale of Love and Memories was perfectly placed. The finale was the traditional Poker. It's always a great, exciting, fantastic to an O.A.R. concert. The fans definitely appreciated it more than any other song. To me, it was great and not notably better or worse than any similar Poker finale I'd experienced.

My seating location, the fans in the front row with me, and being back in Louisville are what made this concert special.

Setlist: http://www.oarsa.org/features/viewsetlist.php?showID=1266
Palace Theatre 07.16.2007 - Louisville, KY

1. Set 1:
   1. Destination (Fire On The Mountain Tag)
   2. About Mr. Brown
   3. Delicate Few
   4. Missing Pieces
   5. The Stranger
   6. What Ever Happened
   7. About An Hour Ago
   8. Conquering Fools
   9. One Shot
   10. Road Outside Columbus
   11. King Of The Thing
   12. Lay Down
   13. So Moved On
   14. Heard The World
   15. I Feel Home &
   16. Love And Memories
2. Encore:
   17. See You Cry ~
   18. That Was A Crazy Game Of Poker (Officer Tag)

~ Marc solo.
& Marc and Richard.
Entire show with Mike Paris on keys, percussion, and vocals.

I was ready to abandon the Philips Pronto platform, but the new Pronto Professional TSU9400 and Pronto Script save the day!

Background: I've been a user of Philips Pronto remote controls since the original TSU-1000 was released in 1998. Since then, I've upgraded twice and I carefully consider each new product cycle. I'd become a bit disappointed because new product releases seemed to be "two steps forward and one step back." (For example, the TSU7000/TSU7500 still does not have automatic backlights behind the hard buttons.) Also, Philips released a new product, the customer-installer-only TSU9600, a year ago but offered no third-party support for features or enhancements. All that has now changed.

A New Remote: The TSU9400 appears to be a consumer-focused upgrade to the existing TSU7500 that incorporates many features of the TSU9600. This is great news to the enthusiast crowd that has been neglected by Philips for the past couple of years.

Universal 2-way Scripting Support: The even better news the the announcement of ProntoScript, which will allows anyone to code 2-way control of any device, not just the 3 devices that were previously supported. There are hundreds of Home Theater devices capabale of receiving commands and providing status feedback (via RS-232 or Ethernet ports.) Now users of the newest Prontos will be able to create scripts to take advantage of these features. Personally, I'm looking forward to integration with Windows Media Center.

Are even more features available to third parties?

For those that don't know, the newest Philips remotes and base stations are based on Linux. All of the source code is available for download at http://www.pronto.philips.com/index.cfm?id=1367 .

Would Hacking the firmware Help or Hurt Philips? According to BusinessWeek, it would help. If there are features missing, I'm hoping a motivated can resolve that limitation.

Excerpts from the "Hack This Product, Please!" article

Above all, this "collaboration generation" wants a two-way relationship with the brands they select. Our research reveals that 68% of young people surveyed in the U.S. and Canada are eager to help companies design their products and services.

The second change is that customers use the Web to create vast online prosumer communities, in which they share product-related information, collaborate on customized projects, engage in commerce, and swap tools, tips, and product hacks. What were once fringe activities—the preserve of the amateur electronics club—are increasingly conducted in open, public, easily accessible forums.

Finally, companies are discovering that "lead users"—people who push the limits of existing technology and often create their own product prototypes in the process—often develop modifications and extensions to products that will appeal to mainstream markets. In other words, lead users serve as a beacon for where the mainstream market is headed. Companies that learn how to tap the insights of lead users can gain competitive advantage.

TV Guide just release their list of the top 30 Cult TV shows of all time.  Of the 30, I counted the number of shows for which I'd seen at least 5 episodes: 11.  I guess that is why they are cult favorites and not hugely successful favorites.

• 8 of the shows started in the 1960s or earlier (a surprise to me.)
• I'd never even heard of 4 of them.
• Not a single one on the list began its run during the years between 1975 and 1986, indicating an apparent lull in creativity.

TV Guide List of the Top 30 Cult TV Shows of All Time