Another geeky thing.

One of my super geeky hobbies that I spend a lot of time doing is flying remote controlled gliders. I started a couple of years ago when I met a really cool group of guys that fly a specific type of glider. Gliders as you know don't have motors to get them in the air,so how do you get them up?Some you throw off a cliff and use the wind that hits the cliff to keep it up. This is called slope soaring and while a lot of fun I hate standing in the wind. Also you have to drive a lot to get to the best spots.You can also use a winch or bungee cord to launch the plane.While it allows you to fly bigger planes its a lot of work to drag a winch around all the time and to assemble the big planes.I gravitated to the most pure of the glider types. Discus Launch Gliders are a pretty new invention in the RC plane world.What they are is a super light,super strong glider with a peg at the end of the wing which you use to launch the plane. It makes it so I can keep a plane in the truck and anytime I find a football field or larger I can go fly.And since the launch heights are not as big it takes a lot more skill to find air to keep you up. For those of you who don't know how a glider stays up basically there are rising rings of hot air called thermals that we have to find.Think of a circling hawk rising without flapping its wings.

Today we were out at the Pleasanton fairgrounds playing around. I broke my plane on the second toss so I took some video of a couple of winch launches and then a couple of DLG launches that Bob one of the best in the bay was throwing. His son AJ is in the second video and while young might be one of the best pilots in the US. Aaron who is in video one is another amazing pilot.

BBQ Season is here.

With a few days of sporadic sunshine and a big hope that the weather will change my thoughts have been on BBQ.I had been planning on buying a new grill for a few months,as my current one was falling apart.It survived 3 summers of great grilling. So while at costco I saw a great deal on a grill. It was larger than I wanted , but had lots of cool features such as an infrared burner ,side burner and lots of storage. The grates are cast Iron and easy to clean if treated right from the beginning. While not easy to assemble(took about 2 hours),the quality is quite good and it works really well. 

So what I really want to do is a list of some things I have tried and want to try on the grill. First off are the things we do all the time and love. 

1.Grilled veggies. But the best is grilled leaks .Trimmed cleaned and brushed in olive oil grill till the leaks are soft . We do the same with green onions ,all types of onions and bell peppers. 

2.Grilled garlic cloves. This takes a long time to do right. Take a whole large garlic clove  and brush the skin with olive oil .Place on the grill like 30 minutes before you cook anything else. use a medium heat till you cook any other food then its OK to put it on high. Depending on the type of garlic what you get is a sweet pungent super soft spread for bread or veggies. It is a bit messy. 

3.Shrimp.We have several ways that we have grilled them.The key is to get them fresh. 

4.Steak,pork chops ,sausage and chicken.We do a lot of this in a lot of different ways.

5.Corn on the cob.How I do this is to shuck the corn and put it in tinfoil.Don't wrap It tight.  Put salt,pepper and water in the foil with the corn  the seal it  up.What happens is the water boils the corn and it turns out perfectly.Usually 30 minutes of cooking time.Adding a little chili powder is good as well.

Now on to the things I really want to try.

1.BBQ oysters. I made them years ago and it was good and easy.Luckily there are a couple of places in the bay to get fresh oysters.The best is probably Hog Island oysters in the Ferry building.Easy to cook and depending on the sauce quite flavorful.

2.BBQ pulled pork.Now this requires a smoke and a lot of time.But it is so worth it. Mmmmm Memphis style..

3.Fish Fish and more fish.We have a fresh fish market a few mile away in Half Moon Bay.Awesome place.The only thing is that they don't clean the fish for you.I don't mind I can clean it fine. This summer I want to try a bunch of different types of fish. 

4.I totally want to BBQ a leg of lamb. There are a lot of good recipes.But have never done it myself.

5.I want to try to make some grilled flat breads.Luckily having a mixer we can whip up some dough in a short time.

6.I want to try and BBQ a whole duck. Maybe rotisserie.Shira loves duck..

7.I am going to try some traditional mexican fare on the grill.

Anyone else have something to suggest?

Netflix player via XBOX 360

Last November XBOX 360 revamped their operating system and one of the key features that they added was the NetFlix instant watch player. I have been a subscriber for years and for a while I have been watching movies on my PC via the instant watch feature.The problem to this point has been the amount of movies watchable .But with the release of the XBOX player they also announced a ton more movies to be released .The STARZ network partnered with NetFlix and added a lot of newer content. The setup is a 5 second deal with your laptop and Xbox on. The software took 2 minutes to download. Even the most tech challenged will find the Xbox set up easy. You do have to have a gold live membership,but that's worth it. 

Some of the content is Hd , and these titles have longer load times (30 sec compared to 20seconds) and some times have to pause to reload.But a normal DVD plays uninterrupted .Fast forward and rewind are not as smooth as a normal DVD ,but its the price to pay for the convenience.After using the service for 3 months and building my instant watch Que to 300+ movies I cant imagine not having it.If the DVR is recording two shows at once we can go to the xbox and find a movie. Shira uses it at times and has no problems navigating the menus. I know that I have been touting the 360 as the best media / game machine out there and this just puts the nail in the coffin.The PS3 is nice and is the best Blu Ray player on the market but it just is not as refined as the xbox.I own both and use the 360 so much more.There are other options to get the instant watch,there are some Samsung BR players that have it and the Roku box does just the instant watch for $100.00 . But with all the other features its a steal.Also just announced was that Netflix will be doing instant watch only subscriptions,but at $8.00 a month to start the regular one is really cheap.

If your a movie buff and want a ton of movies at your fingertips there is no better option.

Tacos Peralta San Mateo(Updated)

I love Mexican food. In fact I eat Mexican for lunch a lot. But since moving to the Peninsula I have not found anything I really thought was better than average. My favorite of all time is Los Ponchos in Pleasant Hill,but I only get by there once or twice a year. And what I usually get there is burritos,the tacos are just OK. Recently I have been on a quest to find a great Mexican place near home. While looking through Yelp I found Tacos Peralta.I did not pay close attention to the details so when I showed up I could not find it.Then I saw the truck parked across the street. I have a little aversion to some of these trucks as some are really dirty. I looked inside and it was spotless. I mean were talking OCD clean.There was a line of five or six people ,most were Latinos and tradesmen.The guy who took my order slipped from Spanish to super fluent English and asked what I wanted. After asking what he suggested I get he made me two BBQ pork,two BBQ chicken and one steak taco all with onions. Couple of minutes later I was headed home.When I opened the bag I realized how small the tacos were.Good thing I got 5.But at only $1.25  each you can get a whole bunch for under 10$.I have had some really good tacos in my day ,but these were just manna from heaven.Perfectly seasoned ,super tender meat and fresh herbs. I could have eaten ten or eleven of them. I give the Taco Peralta tacos a 5 out of 5.A couple of days later I went back for a burrito.And while it was really good,better than any other it the penninsula so far.It was not perfect.I give it a 4 out of 5.I think it just had a little too much oil .If I ask for less next time it might be close to perfect.Hope all you mexican food lovers get to try some.MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMmm

What about HDMI?

So when you talk about the top of the line High Definition TV systems one subject seems to come up again and again. What about HDMI cables?Should I use them?Well this is a hard subject.There are really two answers.If you have a simple system(TV,cable box) then I will say yes. You don't see most of the issues that we have with HDMI when you have a simple system.The cool part about HDMI is that its video and audio all in one cable .Plus you can push 1080p signal through it.The bad part is that there are so many versions of HDMI software that issues of compatibility come up really often.When a system is 3 or more parts I have had a 90% failure rate of the system caused by the software. When I am designing a system for a client I cant take that kind of chance. We recently did three systems in one of my clients house.All three had HDMI failures. So we switched back to component video and coaxial audio.  and the systems all work fine. So we limit our video to 1080 i.Only hard core video guys will see it. And using the coaxial audio is actually better. The chances of your processor getting the best audio mode is way better .Using HDMI limits you to the systems lowest common software version.If the DVD player is lower than the receiver then you use the DVD version. Some DVD players cant be updated. I hope that someday we can use all HDMI or something similar,but I don't see it happening soon.I think you will be totally happy using the other cables.They just work better.

Facebook has one cool thing going for it.There are notes going around asking people what their 15,25 or 40 favorite albums 

are.I could spend days doing this.Here are my top 15.
1.The Kinks "You really got me"1964 .The Kinks defined Rock and Roll for me from a really young age. 

In my mind they were better than the Beatles. Plus they influenced a ton of artists that are on this list.

2.MC5 Kick Out The Jams. 1968 .If there was one album that is most sited as the kick off or mos

t influential recording to punk artists this is it.I think I have worn through 5 or 6 of this cd over the years.

3.The Stooges .FunHouse.1970 Like the MC5 a Detroit band who really helped define early punk

.I am a huge Igy Pop fan and this might be the best album.

4.New York Dolls.New York Dolls.1974.One of the best rock albums of all time.I think I was 13

 when I first heard this and it just made me feel pure fun.

5.Minor Threat .Out of Step.1983. Fronted by Ian Mcay Minor Threat gave us straight edge and the 

DC sound.Another band that I have had to buy a few replacements.

6.Men at Work .Business as Usual.1984.the First Cassette I ever owned.While Thriller was out at the

 same time.This was way more fun.

7.Metallica .Ride The Lightning.1984.This was my introduction into Metal.My neighbor came by all 

excited wanting me to hear it.I was shocked and in love with the sound at the same time.Still love all 

their albums before And Justice for all.

8.The Pixies.Surfer Rosa.1988.helped define alternative music in the 90s.Some of the songs are in 

permanent rotation on my play lists.


9. Nirvana .Bleach 1989.While Nevermind was huge,but I really loved the raw sound that Bleach was 

all about.

10.Operation Ivy.Energy.1989.Bay area band that was just fun to see at the Gilman.It was 19 songs that 

helped define the ska/punk genre in the 90s.

11.Tin Machine /David Bowie. Tin Machine 1989.This was David Bowies Guitar heavy side project.There is 

one song in particular "Amazing" that really just hit something in my soul.

12.Nine Inch Nails .Pretty Hate Machine.1989.the fusing of heavy guitar and electronic track was pure genius

 on this album. One that we played all through senior year and still can get me going in a second.

13.Mr Bungle.Mr Bungle 1991 .Fronted by Mike Patton this experimental rock band was the theme for our life

 after high school. I dont know what this says about us since its described as circus ,porn rock.

14.Tribe Called Quest .Low end Theory.1991.The song Scenario got played so much that I can still quote 

most of the words at the drop of a hat. It is what I love about hip hop and pretty much how I personally define it.

15.Tool.Undertow.1993.Tool jump started rock for me.The videos and dark hard images just spoke to me 

and I love all their albums. 

Geneva convention applied to video games.

Some of you may know that I am really into video games.I play with people all around the world.Most of the games I play are aimed at adults,problem is that a lot of adults don't understand that these "GAMES" are really adult themed.Sex,Violence and adult situations just are not appropriate for kids.Then there is the online play.Its a very social world,but there are no boundaries to the people online.Daily I hear some of the most racist ,stupid and ignorant people talking without filters while online. How do you as a parent help your child avoid this? Well I tell all my clients to read the boxes and ratings.Adults wont be online playing kid oriented games. Unless they are trolling and we all know what happens then.Make it a habit to play the games with your kids.Even if its not fun for you. Video games like TV is not a babysitter. Recent studies show that kids who play video games are about 50% better at problem solving and dealing with task lists than kids who don't.It can instill some good qualities if tempered with real life education.In an attempt to add education to his sons playtime this writer was pretty inspired.http://kotaku.com/5158209/parent-asks-son-to-play-cod-according-to-geneva-conventions

And for those of you who do play here is a funny skit that is pretty much what goes on with online play.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S12z6hxa5cw

Dave and Gina get Hitched!!

Over the last two days Shira and I have been busy with two of our good friends wedding.Shira was Gina's matron of honor so we spent a lot of time up in San Francisco with their friends and family. The wedding was held at the Marines Memorial hotel near Union square .Its a pretty cool place ,filled with lots of military history and has a unique charm.On Thursday we had 

the rehearsal and dinner with all the family and friends.We had a 5 course old style Italian meal..Shira stayed with Gina in Sf while I worked on Friday.The wedding was a really nice affair.The ceremony was beautiful and you could really see how happy they both were to be getting married.Then we all had drinks while they set up for the reception.The reception itself was so much fun.The band was really good at interacting with the crowd and had all the room dancing. I am so proud of Shira ,her speech was  amazingly well done.It was hard to follow,but I think James(the best man) did quite well.

The food was good and the drinks flowed  freely.We danced all night,and as you can see on the videos it was a real party. The videos were taken with my phone so some bits are dark and or shaky. If you want the raw file let me know.I am going to try and edit them a bit,but I need to find the right software.

Thanks to Gina,Dave and their family for putting on a great wedding. 

Oh and Braith thanks for being such a good sport,we all now know what Mel sees in you.HAHAThose are some great moves.

Blackberry Storm review update.

After a little over three months of hard use I wanted to give an update.The storm really fits with a unique user.If you are doing heavy email or work from your phone then the BB Curve or Bold would work better.Over the last three months there have been two official Verizon software updates which really helped the performance a ton.But what really made the most difference is the beta release I got off Crackberry.com.Version .103 made 99% of the problems go away.Typing ,which was really bad in the beginning has become pretty good.In fact I am posting this from a wedding rehearsal my wife is in.There were some issues with the accelerometer,gone.Issues with the device crashing are totally gone.There are a number of refinements that just make things so much smoother.While not perfect I finally feel like I can recommend the Storm to more than you geeks.So who is the phone for?Well those of you who want the cool media applications and large screen its perfect.Surf the web a lot then this phone is amazing.At least on par with the Iphone.The one limit is that the Iphone has a lot more applications.But BB will catch up.My father in law Jerry has a Storm and I think he likes his.I love mine and get excited at every new app and tweak.Shira is always making fun of me.

What ever happened to the Renaissance man?

A friend of mine posted a question on Facebook about Kayne Wests popularity that kind of made me want to rant a bit.So please bear with me. Now I am a total techno geek and love my modern media(TV,Movies,Internet).I am also really into the technology that delivers such media.And following such advances might lead you to believe that our younger generation might use all this awesome tech and media to bridge the gap between generations of knowledge.All those classic books,works of art and music available at the touch of a button. Why does it seem that we are regressing instead of moving forward?Why is American Idol the standard for music?Why are the The Real Wives of Orange County considered upper class? Why do all the movies for young people seem to be dumbed down and lacking in substance?Why is reality TV no longer real? I know that I am not perfect,but I feel like I am always learning and moving foreword.I read the classics and SciFI .I understand where the music I love comes from.Sometimes I regress to the base emotions and a good stupid laugh is appropriate.But I always work to learn something diverse.It seems like we have been in an endless ,mindless media loop for the past 20 years. Now that Shira and I are on the verge of having a child of our own I feel like its my opportunity to change the world a little.To pass on the really good parts of our past that could shape the world.I think its up to us the next generation of parents to negate all this fluff ?filling the void that is our culture.But I think the hard part is to instill the social aptitude that allows a person to float between classes,race ,gender and social gaps. Cant a person be smart , knowledgeable and socially adept? Can we as parent instill and share without pushing too hard?finding that balance will be hard.I am excited to share the things I love and to learn from my boy. Will he he love some of the same things?How will Shiras good social qualities guide him to be better than us?All I know is that we all have to do better.Enough with the vapid ,soulless crap filling the world.I know I can better myself and hope to help Jack become more of a renaissance man than me.

What do I need to make my Home Theater complete?

There are several ways to make a system work,but really only one way to do it right.Of course you need a TV which in my systems work as a stand alone monitor.The speakers inside TVs are horrible so we try to avoid them at all costs.Then since you are not using the TVs speakers you will need a set of speakers.There is a review of my current favorite TV here. How many and where do they go?Well if you want true surround sound you need 6 speakers minimum.In the front near the TV you have a three speakers(left,right,center).These are the most crucial since most of your sound comes from here.And if you cant get rear speakers using the front three will work.Then you have two rear speakers somewhere behind the seating position.These provide directional sounds and fill the room in music modes.The last piece is the sub woofer.The placement of this is not as crucial and can go almost anywhere in the room. A 5.1 speaker system can go for as little as $300.00 up to as much as you want to spend.A good guideline is to spend an equal amount on the speakers and receiver.

The next piece in the puzzle is the devices that provide content,like the cable box,DVD/Blu-Ray player and Video game systems.These are less important to how the overall system works,but don't make cheap choices as you wont get the most from your system.I will cover these items next Tuesday.

The most important piece in current systems is the A/V receiver.It used to be that the receiver just amplified the sound and sound sources.Today's receiver acts as an amplifier , audio processor and video processor.What this really means is that everything gets plugged into the receiver and all switching of devices happens with the help of the processor.Some of the current generation of receivers also improve audio clarity and video processing with the help of some pretty slick software.Good receivers start at the $600.00 to $2000.00 range for Denon which I use on my medium grade systems.For high end I use B&K which go for 3-5k and really are some of the best products on the market in my opinion.

So all that is left is a remote and all the wires to connect the system.I covered remotes here and will cover wiring in the near future.Speaker selection is a whole article on its own that I will try to tackle soon.This probably leaves more questions than answers,but gives you a rundown on the basics.

B&K AVR 707 And REF 70

There are a lot of companies making a lot of different home theater receivers.In fact the market has too many good products out there.Makes it really hard to choose.In the high end market almost everything is good in some way.Over the years I have been really lucky to get my hands on a lot of the good and bad.With B&Ks recent release of of their 7 series models I have found a new king to sit at the top.They really did their research and made the jump to the next level.First lets talk about the difference between the 707 and the REF 70.Its simple really.The Ref 70 requires a separate amplifier to power the speakers and the 707 has the amp built in.Going the REF 70 route is more expensive,but more powerful.Most of you will only need the 707 as it has plenty of power for the average application.

Now on to what makes them so good.First there is the sound.B&K have always sounded great,as their amps give great tone through the whole spectrum . But on top of that they have a new audio processor which makes any source sound better,cleaner and more powerful. The 707 has 125 w per channel which is way more than enough for all but the largest rooms.This should be more than enough to sell the receiver,but this is a whole new beast compared to the 5 series.They totally updated the whole machine.In the 5 series we were stuck with component video at 1080i and only 3 inputs at that rate.Now we have 6 HDMI ports ,8 component and all up converted to 1080p if you use HDMI.I am not big on HDMI as it has some problems when you get certain pieces of equipment together.But its nice to have the option.Most of the time I will be using the component still as its just so reliable. To go with all of this flexibility is the new Silicon Optix video processor.With HD content being the standard you need to have a really hot processor and this one is amazing.Noticeable amounts of noise reduction and super crisp colors make it a sight to behold. Plus there a bunch of features that us custom installers love.Like the new on screen menus and the video processors cinescope 2:35 aspect possibilities. 

This is a pretty complete package.It has a matrix switcher built in,it has more audio inputs than you would ever need and it integrates really well with other products.The only down side is that I have had to update the software a couple of times.But as time goes on this will go away. These are not for the timid,both price 4-5K and the complexity almost ensures you have a pro involved. Is it worth it.YES ,YES and more YES. 

A/V Tuesdays

I know a lot of you don't care about Audio/Video stuff,but some do.So I am going to post all my A/V stuff on Tuesdays. Send me an email if you have a topic you want me to cover.Most of the topics will be stuff clients or friends have asked about.I will try to keep it short and sweet.

Universal remotes, What do I really need?

Do you have 5 remotes either on the table or in a drawer?Do you need 2 remotes to change between cable and the DVD player?Well with today's systems this is pretty normal.If my wife had to deal with this she would never get to watch movies or play music.The key to this problem is a Universal Remote.But how do I decide what to get?When picking what kind of remote for your system you need to ask a few key questions.

1.Do I want to program it myself?

2.How many devices do I need to control?(TV,DVD,cable,xbox,receiver,etc)

3.Am I using new or old equipment?(older eq is tough to control with cheap remotes)

4.Do I want my remote to do other things?(web access,Control lights,feedback)

5.Do I want a touch panel or just hard buttons?

6.What is my budget?The guideline I use is 10-15% of the equipment price.

7.Are there other systems to control?(HVAC,Distributed Audio,Lighting,Security)

I use #6 as a guideline for my customers,but its not set in stone.Some of my customers spend very little as they really don't want all the bells and whistles.I go through a process to figure out their real needs.I have remotes broken down into 4 classes.

1.Consumer level.$100-300 This is the do it yourself class.Some of the remotes work OK and are even computer programmable.The Harmony remotes from Logitec are the best and most well known.To use the consumer level remotes successfully a decent knowledge of audio / video is required and your system needs to be running well to start.Cheap equipment will work against you on this type of remote as well.But you can always find a way to make anything work.Its all about how much effort you want to put out.

2.The next class is the entry level professional class of remotes.$500-1200.00.I use these for a lot of projects.A custom installer is needed for these and all the other remote classes.The custom installer is going to tune your system to work the best when programming one of these.Also they are for one room systems not whole house control.I use the MX 900 from Universal Remote a lot.It just always works,fits nice in the hands and programs fast.I charge $800.00 for the remote,rf module and programming.More on RF later.What you really get with this class of remote is bullet proof ir codes and in the hands of a good programmer flawless performance.

3.When you go to the next class of remotes its really more of a control system.$1200.00 and up.They are generally designed to control more than one system and require a medium amount of programming time to get right.Most are touch screens and have a central processor somewhere near the equipment. The next step in control reliability is reached as well since instead of ir codes it uses RS-232 computer code.Which is flawless.Two way feedback is also introduced in this class.And that means that the song your playing from the media server will show on the remote and the light level for the room will show up on the page.For this level I use remotes from RTI and cant say anything bad about the product.These are getting so good that I have stopped using the fourth class of system.Most of the remotes are hand held,but some tablets are available.

4.The top class are products like Crestron ,AMX and Vantage.If you are budget minded these are not for you.The programming time alone is tremendous.The number of parts and cost of the total system make this class for the really wealthy.You get what you pay for as you can make this type of system do anything.I mean anything.You also get a million style choices and colors.If you want to start the car any time you hit the 5th step on the stairs between 8am and 815 am then this is what you need.Voice recognition?All possible. But again you pay.

Above I mentioned RF.What it does is puts all the control behind closed doors.Standard IR remotes need to have line of sight and cant pass through a door.So all equipment needs to be visible.RF allows for control through doors and walls.No more visible equipment.All levels do this,but 2-4 do it much better.

Of course I love the RTI stuff ,but use the Universal remote stuff for most projects.Its just more cost effective.So chances are you fit into the level 2 remotes.Have kids under 13?Level 2 as things get broken.Building a dedicated theater and audio video distribution for the whole house?Level 3 is perfect. Hope this clears up your options a bit.

What we have been watching this month.

This month has been pretty busy , but the wife and I have still managed to get some good old quality TV time in.OK so it was mostly me,but the wife did find a new favorite.

1.Mad Men season 1.This AMC series was missed by Shira and I on its first season,but on the recommendation of some friends on Facebook we gave it a try. Set in the early 60s Madison avenue advertising agency it give a rare look into how men and women have changed over the years.The writing is superb and the sets/costumes make you want a 60s wardrobe. I cant recommend the show enough.I give it 5 out of 5 stars.Season 2 should be on DVD soon.

2.Taken. I am a huge Bond/Bourne fan and love this type of fast paced movie. In taken the change is that the agent played by Liam Neeson has his Daughter kidnapped.What this does is put a great personal twist on the plot. There are some holes in the script,but those are quickly over looked by the great action and depth of emotion you see from the main character.While not perfect I loved this movie and give it 4 out of 5 stars.

3.Max Payne.This movie is based on a hit video game.And while this usually means disaster to a film not this time.I am not saying that this was a great film,really it was just an average action flick.But there was some great stylistic shots and special effects. 3 out of 5 Average.

4.Zack and Miri make a porno. I like Kevin Smith movies,don't love them but do enjoy them.This is the first movie that really hit me in the right way. The cast is perfect ,the script was funny and complete and the way it was shot was perfect for what might be the best comedy in the last couple of years.I give it a 5 out of 5 which for a comedy is rare.Must see,but be cautioned it has very adult themes.

5.30 Rock.We both love this show.It might be the best comedy on cable TV.4 out of 5.

6.Top Chef. Shira and I love food and after several seasons of Top Chef we are still watching.4 out of 5

7.Burn Notice.I watch this one on my own.Great spy show from the USA network.With a great cast and sharp writing I still love it after a couple of seasons. 4 out of 5

8.All the VH1 shows.On Sunday we watch a couple of the VH1 reality shows.And really they are all just filler for our relaxing day at home.2 out of 5 for all of them except the Dr Drew shows(sober house and celebrity rehab )which get 4 out of 5.We like to watch car crashes as well.

There are a few other shows I want to write about,but will do that later.

Poynt for Blackberry devices

As our mobile devices get more complicated so do the applications that we download for them.Poynt is a little different.It takes a few of really important mobile functions and makes them super simple.Its basically a GPS based search for the basic things you might need while out. When you open the aplication its really simple.You have a phone book symbol,a movie ticket symbol and a search symbol.All you have to do is choose one of the three and it walks you through some simple steps from there.Lets say I choose the movie button.It then gives me a list of 5 choices,but the one I will focus on is theaters near me.Click it and a list of theaters within your chosen distance pops up.You can then choose a theater and another menu gives you some choices such as movies playing or call fandango.If you choose movies playing it lists the movies and times.For now it does not allow you to buy tickets,but you can see a preview if you have a capable phone and reviews/details.All the info you need is accessable in 20 seconds or less.The other search buttons work the same.You just type in what you want and it gives you a very detailed list and options on each choice.The reason why I love this is that its so simple and easy to use. No messing with un optomized web pages or laggy browsers.Its also available for your pc,but with a full keyboard and google it seems a little redundant. For your mobile device its a home run. 

http://www.multiplied.com/Poynt/Pages/Poynt.aspx

Teatro ZinZanni

For those of you that dont know Febuary 13th is a special day for Shira and I .Its the day that we went out on our first real date.We had known each other for a while and it was that night when we really knew that something special was going to happen. So every year we get to avoid all the Valentines day bullshit and really have something to celebrate. This year we invited our friends Peggy and Jeff along with us to Teatro ZinZanni. We have been before and could not wait to take some friends to share such a fun night.For those that have never been its a full night of food and entertainment.You arrive to a big permanent tent on the Embarcedaro in San Francisco that does not do justice to the scene inside. Arrive early if at all possible just to make sure you have time to have a drink or two at the bar.They make great drinks in the lobby where you gather around a large circular bar and just people watch.Most people really dress nice for the occasion and they suggest that its a good time to dress a little funky if its in your wardrobe.When seated you either sit on the floor or the outer ring,not a bad seat in the house.You pay more for the floor seats ,as they basically perform right on top of you.

The night is at its most basic is a 5 course meal and show.But the show is really a lot more.Part burlesque ,part Cirque du Soleil and part drag show its a total blast.The food service is part of the show,at specific times each course is served to the whole place.The waiters all perform as part of the show.The theme for the show was kind of a spy / comedy, but this changes every couple of months.The live band and performers did songs in German and French which were quite beautiful.The other performances were just amazing feats of strength and balance that you have to see to admire. 

the food is pretty good considering how its served,they do a really good steak. Service is exceptional and there is always someone there to help.You have a 4 hour night that is just filled with fun.There is a lot of audience participation ,which sitting on the floor you are more likely to get picked. Its a little expensive ,but for a special occasion its totally worth it .I cant wait to go back .

Baby Steinbeck is a boy!!!!

This morning my lovely wife and I went to the doc for Amniocentesis testing.Now this is a little risky but gives you piece of mind. It was a huge decision for us. There is a 1 in 500 chance that the test will lead to a miscarriage.Super stressful making that decision. But in the process the doc did a super detailed ultrasound .So we got to see how the baby is developing and the sex of baby Steinbeck.The technology is amazing ,the pics are super clear . I even got to watch the procedure on the ultrasound. Pretty cool.It has finally become real in my head. I am now daddy to a little boy,well minus 5 months.Now I feel like I can plan and move on to the next step,It was all so up in the air till today.Shira was so happy to find out its a boy,she wants a little me.Who knows why,but she does.Now on to making a high tech airplane mobile/mp3 player.HAHA

To E Read or Book Read

As time goes on and I continue to accumulate more and more books ,my wife gets more antsy about where to keep them. My dream is to have a man room that has walls filled with books.But till that ever happens I have to figure out what to do. I am going through 1-2 books a week minimum,which is about 60-100 books a year. Now most of these are paperbacks that I get at anywhere from 2$ to 9$ new from amazon.com.Never buy used books.For one the writer and publisher lose out and you also never know if the used book is missing pages.Has happened twice that used books I bought were missing pages.Now my options for this problem are pretty open.I continue to buy books and store them in the garage .Which while it fits into my life long plan its kind of a pain since we are bursting at the gills as it is.So option # 2 is to use either my Storm or pc to read books I can download  ,now while this is a cheap option it has some limitations.I have a huge laptop which will put out a ton of light ,essentially killing my chances of reading in bed.Plus the fans and heat put out by my laptop also will wake the wife. I have done a little reading on my Storm and it works out ok,but the screen is too small and I have to buy special software for each type of special file.(probably 50$ in all).If traveling my Storm will be ok but again not ideal as battery life becomes a concern. The next and probably best option is one of the E Ink readers on the market.The most well known of these is the Amazon Kindle and now the Kindle 2,but you do have some other options. The best seems to be the Sony PRS-505 reader. The Kindle is nice since it has wireless capability(uses Sprints 3g network) , but it has had durability problems which might be solved with the 2 .The wireless is not a huge issue with me as I am always near a computer of some sorts internet connection.If you want to use it as more of a work tool then the kindle might be better for the wifi instant(60 seconds for a book) download.The Kindle is also 50$ more which accounts for the wifi .The Sony on the other hand just seems to be a bit more refined.It processes pages a little faster,plays mp3 files and audio books (kindle 2 does the same). The interface just seems to be a little smoother and you can walk into any Sony store and get one.Kindles have been hard to get which might be the biggest downfall along with not supporting as many formats till the 2 version.The thing that really sold me on the Sony is that you get 100 classics for free if you buy it before the end of march,Now both E Ink readers need a light to read at night and sony has one for its reader which seems to be nice and fits well with the unit.The kindle you would use any old book light. In the next 2-3 years new versions will flood the market,some in color some will have more pc like functions .This leads to the question why not wait. Well to be honest E Books are cheaper and going to a reader will pay for itself over a year.If I save 2-5$ per book thats a lot of saved money. Plus the thought of having 100 books to brows through at any one second is amazing.Its like flipping channels to suit your mood. I still have a few more hard copy books to go through before I pull the trigger on the or Kindle 2,but I cant wait to start reading on E INK.

Fonseca Cubano Robusto Cigar

Sat January 10 2009

Tried a new brand of cigar today,well new to me anyways.It was a Fonseca Cubano Limitado . Normally when I pop into the Cigar shop and ask for something new I get the same kind of advice from the same to clerks.This is not a bad thing since they are supremely knowledgeable and always have a great smoke for me.But today I asked one of the guys who only works a few hours a week what he might pick after describing my taste for Partigas #4 from Cuba.His recommendation was the Fonseca Cubano Limitado Robusto which seemed a bit heavy for my normal taste upon inspection,but  was quite surprised after a few puffs.The draw was quite nice and while the cigar was spicy in the beginning it settled into a really great flavor about 25% into the cubano.While being a medium heavy cigar the taste was so full and pleasant that I never felt the feeling of oiliness assumed by some heavy smokes.By the time I was down to the nub a curiosity about other cigars in the Fonseca line had me asking more questions. 

So my overall rating is a 7.I would recommend trying one.

Flavor rating would be a 3.5-4

The cost is a bit cheaper than average ,and I am unsure if this cigar is still made.

The after taste was spicy and mild ,which I would have never guessed.

Ratings

Cigar , alcohol and pipe tobacco Ratings

I am going to rate all cigars in 4 ways.

1. An overall 1-10 rating  

2.a 1-5 flavor rating,1 being super light and 5 being super heavy

3.Cost and availability

4.Aftertaste

I have not yet decided on how to rate food.But restaurants I will provide a link to Shira and my yelp reviews.

http://www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=EjWUpAMZ-gKMNI-gbrokqQ

Samsung LCD TVs

For the past few years I have been on the plasma tv band wagon.Why?Well for a long time it has been carved in A/V stone that tvs over 40" were just better as plasmas for a number of reasons.Black Levels were better,color saturation and contrast levels were just way better.This year for the first time I am breaking the rule.Recently while perusing the tvs at my local distributor a group of Samsung tvs caught my eye,I asked my rep for more details and a demonstration.We hooked up a Blu Ray player and put on the Planet Earth discs.If you have not seen it I can only say its a must watch.The reason why this is a good demo disk is that some of the scenes have millions of objects (birds) moving across the screen and then there are just vivid slow motion moments that really show contrast ratios. On the Samsung LN55A950  the scene with the birds was processed so well that I only saw a few digital artifacts.which is on par with any of the top Plasmas from the last year (Kuros).

The Colors were so vivid and at this point I was 80% sold ,but the real test for me is how it does with black levels.This is normally the Achilles heel for LC tvs.We put on Iron Man and moved to the scenes featuring Tony Starks time in Afghanistan.Dark caves and some bright light sources.Again I was just blown away,there was hardly any blooming and the black is really black. 

Now these were just taken out of the box and thrown on the wall,no calibration of any kind.I cant imagine the images I can get with a little time and a few tweaks.So for me this is the product I will be putting on my customers walls.The 5gs for a 55" price tag is appropriate for a tv of this caliber. If you want to spend less and get 90% of the performance they do have the a cheaper model.The nice thing is that the LN52A860  is ultra thin and almost as good for $3400. 

The only down side to these tvs is that the glass is pretty reflective. Some other brands put tints or less shine on the glass,but you miss out on the brilliance that ultra good glass gets you.So for a lot of daytime tv watching this is something to keep in mind,but is not a deal killer.

Our new tech and privacy.

I have been reading some tech articles about our new social technology software and devices.Things like facebook ,twitter and WhosHere are being used every day ,while fun and quite useful they bring up serious privacy and security concerns.There is an article in the current wired magazine where Mathew Honan tries to take advantage of as many of these technologies as possible.But what he realized is that he and his wife felt a little exposed and a bit out of whack.What I took from this and some other information is that I feel the need to buffer my posts and add a level of conscious security to my online life.You might ask why. Well all of you who know we sometimes travel ,sometimes its just Shira and sometimes its just me. Well if its just me posting that I am say in LA and Shira is posting that shes curled up on the couch at home ,all of my friends and possibly the world knows that she is home alone and vulnerable.Now we have it set up so that only our friends can see what we are doing,but thats a lot of people(over a 100 between Shira and I).If you really think of thosefriends how many of them would you really trust?And what about other people using your friends computer?I am a little paranoid, but then again I want my family to be safe. I dont want to post that Shira and I are in the wine country and come home to a robbed house.This is a bit extreme,but none of these sites are really that secure and if you want info you can get info.Now I am no expert on all of these technologies,but here is what I am doing to protect my family.

1.Read the legal on all software very thoroughly.Look for what info they make common knowledge or transmit online.

2.Make sure GPS software does not transmit your location to anyone.Might be a setting on your phone.

3.If you use your phone to post pics online note that some phones add GPS info to photos.Which can give your location away.Some new cameras will also do this.Might be best to take the pics then just wait till your home to post.

4.No more I am going here or hanging there posts.If I am staying home fine.

5.Post all vacation info after the trip.If you really feel the need then make an invite only page on google sites or something similar .

I know a lot of this is counter to what you have been doing,but better safe than sorry. Unless you want your life open just so you can 

twitter at the same time that your being robbed. 

Bolt Browser for mobile phones

Yesterday Bitsream released a new browser for mobile phones in beta test form.Bolt seems to have something that a lot of mobile browsers are missing.SPEED!!!! The default browser on the Storm is pretty fast,about the same as an IPhone.It takes between 25-35 seconds to render a high quality web page,but with Bolt it takes10-15 for the same page. Now this is a beta version so there are some issues.It crashed 3 times over say 30 pages of surfing. There is no zoom function for touchscreen phones ,but a normal BlackBerry you use the # keys for a lot of functions.For me just getting to the pages fast is huge. If I am surfing on my phone it means I am out and about and dont have time to wait for a poorly rendered web page. Bitstream claims that it will use less power for the surfing,this has yet to be seen ,I surfed way more than average while playing with it yesterday and sill had half of my battery left.There is a setting for quality of photo rendering which could slow the browser down if you have it set to high.But you will still be faster than the other browsers. I think that this could be an amazing browser once they work out the little bugs at final release.Cant wait to see what happens.

Geeks Vs Nerds

My wife is always calling me geeky and nerdy ,while there is a lot of truth to this(this blog is a big piece of evidence).I think we need to clarify what these two words really mean and what the difference is. With Geek I see it as a person who is identified as much by their interests as they are by their personality. Especially if those interests are of an intellectual or technological nature.The root of the word is either freak ,fool or crazy depending on the language and up until the 1970s it was used to describe carnival acts. 

Now nerd as I see it is only different from Geek in that a Nerd will either be a loner or limit his socialization to others sharing similar interests.The root of the word is actually  Dr. Seuss's book If I Ran the Zoo (1950).In the 60s people started using the term to describe someone who was square or not hip. 

In the last 20 years geeks and nerds have really changed the social structure of the world,they drive the tech economies which in a big part drives America. Which in turn has elevated the playing field in social circumstances.Geeks and nerd have hot girlfriends/boyfriends,large social circles with diverse socio economic groups. The Geek while young could never date the cheerleader,but later in life after some success the cheerleader is accessible, but maybe not ideal in the end.Geeks like other Geeks . 

So in the end what I am saying is that Shira is a geek(lighting variety).And with my influence she gets more geeky every day. Every time she declares me geeky it just cements her status as geek wife and heir apparent to my geek knowledge.HAHA take that wife.

http://www.synclastic.com/humour/top-5-reasons-to-marry-a-geek/

Pineapple Express

Watched Pineapple Express with Shira last night and I have to say that I laughed a lot.Shira enjoyed it, but not as much as I did.Its a movie for boys ,lots of drug inspired jokes and the fight scene at the end is ridiculous.This movie is from the same guys who did Superbad  ,so if you liked that this is right up your alley.

Blackberry Storm

I have been a Blackberry fan for quite a while.have had a couple of different phone over the last few years, so the Storm was a really exciting prospect to me.In late November I changed to Verizon and got the Storm .My initial impression was really mixed.Shira was thinking of getting one and decided on a BB Curve after a bad first experience.Dealing with new tech all the time has given me a lot more patience which I needed.From the get go there was some real problems which were fixed in software updates over the first month after release. The three biggest being how the keyboard works,the function of the accelerometer and overall processor speed. While they have exponentially improved the typing ,if your a text or email nut you might want another model. Now after 2 updates I went from almost returning the phone to loving the Storm.There are still some problems ,but I hear most of these will be fixed with the next update.Check out Crackberry for more info.Now on to the things I really love about the Storm.Web access is amazing.The speed is one of the fastest I have seen on a mobile device.The lack of wifi is not really missed. You can watch a you tube video in under 10 seconds. There are a couple of limitations,one being there is no flash player for Blackberry devices. The other being some sites are impossible to sign into cause of security limitations.But again these issues hopefully will be addressed with software updates.The phone comes with an 8gb card,so there is plenty of space for the Storm to become a do it all media player. I have over 400 songs and several videos / pics ready to use with one touch. Then there are the applications.As time goes on more and more cool apps pop up ,such as Vlingo and the facebook app. The Storm has turned out to be a pretty capable do it all device,from the workforce norm BB is known for to the new media power it has now.

Tobacco Pipe

So a couple of weeks ago I was walking down the street and just ahead of me was an older gentleman smoking a pipe. The aroma was sweet and quite amazing. This made me really curious about smoking a pipe.So the next time I was at my local cigar shop / hang out I asked about what I needed to get started.

1.Pipe (Start off cheap and test the waters first.)

2.Pipe tool (Very Important)

3.Non torch lighter or matches

4.Mild blend tobacco

Smoking a pipe is not a fast start activity.So for a quick smoke stick with a short cigar. It takes an hour or two for a full pipe to smoke out.

There is a break in process for a pipe which is quite a time consumer.As I write this I am only part way through this and will update after I break it in.The first time smoking it was a tad awkward. Just learning how to light it for a good burn is a learning process.I loved the taste and think that on a lazy day its the perfect way to smoke.The taste is really more direct and moist compared to a cigar.With cigars I tend to like a medium to light taste,but with a pipe I think I will go for darker sweeter tastes.I will have to revisit this as well.There is a lot to think about as well.The guys that are really into it might have several types of pipes that match to different taste profiles or that they only smoke a certain flavor in certain pipes.For me I can see smoking once a week and only having one or two pipes.Cigars are still my primary tobacco love.