When the now-long-forgotten HD disc format wars were just barely getting started, I jumped on the bandwagon early and bought the HD-DVD add-on drive for the Xbox 360 (at the original higher price, even). I also purchased a number of HD movies in the "Red" (HD-DVD) format and soon discovered the wonders of 1080p movies at home on the Xbox 360.

Ultimately, Blu-ray won the battle to determine which of the two competing formats would survive to become the industry standard. Today I rent Netflix movies in Blu-ray format whenever they are available, and there's nothing like the experience of great movies in high-definition in the home theater room with a 120-inch 1080p projected image and the sound cranked up.

I'm one of those people that buys movies I especially like or one that I'll want to watch again in the future. Unless it's really a favorite I'm more likely to rent from Netflix. Ever since the death of the red disc and the day I bought a PS3 (essentially to use as a Blu-ray player), I've wished I could play all my HD movies on the one device, just for simplicity's sake. But it doesn't work that way. I still hope for the day when a Blu-ray drive comes available for the Xbox 360, but I'm not holding my breath or anything.

Today I was reading blog posts from the past couple weeks and I saw that my friend Travis Illig recently mentioned a service from Warner Brothers called Red2Blu that allows you to take your HD-DVD's from that label and trade them in for the Blu-Ray version for a small fee per disc ($4.95). After creating a list of the Warner Brothers HD-DVDs you have at home on their web site and paying the upgrade fee with a credit card, you'll print out the PDF shipping label they provide, and then mail WB the cover art sleeves from the HD-DVDs you're converting to Blu-Ray. A FAQ covering common topics can be found here.

I just printed my shipping label and pulled all my cover art out of the HD-DVD cases. I'll ship it all off to WB tomorrow. It'll be nice to make the movie library a bit more consistent. I'll need to look to see if any of the other publishing companies have a similar program, but I was pleasantly surprised to find out that all but three of my HD-DVDs were from the WB label, so I'm pretty well covered. Here are the discs I'm able to convert:

There's some great news out of the Microsoft Xbox crew at the E3 conference - NetFlix integration with your XBox 360:

Microsoft revealed that beginning later this year, Netflix subscribers would gain access to the entire Netflix digital library through their online XBox 360's.  Gold membership is required to take advantage of this partnership, but the newfound capacity represents a large step forward in increasing the XBox 360's appeal as a living room media box.  The present Netflix digital library includes roughly 10,000 titles, and on the 360 will feature the ability for watching videos concurrently with friends over the Internet through the new community party system.

Xbox 360 will be the only game system that lets users instantly watch movies and TV episodes streamed from Netflix. Xbox LIVE Gold members who are also Netflix subscribers will be able to streaming movies and television show episodes from Netflix at no additional cost. I'm really looking forward to that. All we need now is a Blu-Ray drive for the 360 console...

Also announced was a revamped user experience and interface (implemented completely through software updates, and allowing more personalization and social interactivity), new HD programming partners and content (including Battlestar Galactica, which I am looking forward to), a price cut on the "Pro" model of the Xbox 360 and a new model slated for August, a future feature which will allow you to copy your game disk to the Xbox hard drive for faster loading and smoother play (you still need to have the original disc though), and a bunch of new games.

Since I "needed" a new high-def disc format player (specifically Blu-Ray Disc) to take the place of my suddenly-antiquated HD-DVD hardware, and since Thursday was my 41st birthday, I decided to get what is arguably the best Blu-Ray player out there. The Playstation 3. Ah mid-life and gadgety toys, heh.

As luck would have it, my dad called me and asked what I'd like for my birthday. We go through the same conversation each time, and it's really kind of funny. I say I don't know and we end up in a friendly stalemate. I told him what I was looking at buying for myself, and he got interested. It was too much money, really - but he insisted (thanks, dad!). And so I went to the local big box store and picked one up and brought it home last night.

I'm not going to do a PS3 review. Yes, it's great hardware and the Blu-Ray discs play great. Watched 3:10 to Yuma last night (good flick). I was impressed, just as I was with HD-DVD.

But you know what impresses me more? In the past few weeks I have seen device after device - from different, even competing manufacturers - communicating with each other to share media on the network.

My Windows Home Server and Windows Media Player devices can share out media with the Xbox 360, with my DirecTV HD-DVR receiver, and now I see also with the new Playstation 3. Streaming audio around the house that's stored on the Home Server is a daily occurence around here. The XBox 360 is, of course, also a front-end for Media Center (which runs on my Vista Ultimate machine), and once we see a real-world version of the DirecTV USB component receiver (dubbed the HDPC-20 and currently in limited beta we're told), that's going straight into my den and should truly round out my interconnected, media-driven home.

With about 2TB (yeah, terabytes - who woulda thunk it a few years ago eh?) of Home Server storage and all these devices spread around that stream various media, it really is turning into a whole different kind of user experience - and a good one at that.

It's official: The format war is over.

I'm not one bit ashamed to say I've been a HD-DVD guy ever since I made the shift to watching movies in the amazing world of hi-def last June. I've enjoyed the red label discs, I appreciate the combo-format packages, and it was HD-DVD that pushed me into doing a lot of research into 1080p projectors and then purchasing one that I have been very happy with.

I also bought a HD-DVD player for my dad and his significant other's new home the day after thanksgiving, and another one for my mom and step dad over the Christmas holiday. If nothing else, they play regular DVDs on their hi-def (1080p) sets beautifully. Too bad the HD-DVD format looks like it's officially out. Glad I got good prices and minimized the "damage." I suppose I'll probably be buying replacement hardware soon eh?

At any rate, with Netflix, Wal Mart, an ever-expanding list of film studios, Best Buy and others making announcements about either going exclusive Blu-ray or favoring the format... Well anyhow I have a question. :)

Which Blu-ray players should I be seriously looking at? Is there a no-brainer, best-bang-for-the-buck option out there? I'm not really interested in PS3 games, so swaying me in that direction might be tough. I'm looking for full 1080p coverage via HDMI. I can (and do) hope that a Blu-ray player for the Xbox 360 is in the works, but until that happens I have to see what else is out there, and it's not something I've paid full attention to.

Suggestions?

Well, I love my Xbox360 HD-DVD drive, and watching full 1080p HD-DVD movies on the Elite model. I've bought about 10 or so HD-DVDs and have rented a few from NetFlix recently. But, in what is looking more and more like an inevitably certain format death, Netflix announced today that it will no longer be stocking new HD-DVD releases, and they'll eventually phase out the current titles from their stock.

In fact, as I was writing this post an email from Netflix just arrived that explains the change:

We're Going Blu-ray

Dear Greg,

You're receiving this email because you have asked to receive high-definition movies in the HD DVD format. As you may have heard, most of the major movie studios have recently decided to release their high-definition movies exclusively in the Blu-ray format. In order to provide the best selection of high-definition titles for our members, we have decided to go exclusively with Blu-ray as well.

While we will continue to make our current selection of HD DVD titles available to you for the next several months, we will not be adding additional HD DVD titles or reordering replacements.

Toward the end of February, HD DVDs in your Saved Queue will automatically be changed to standard definition DVDs. Then toward the end of this year, all HD DVDs in your Queue will be changed to standard definition DVDs. Don't worry, we will contact you before this happens.

You can click here to change your format preferences.

We're sorry for any inconvenience. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please call us at 1 (888) 638-3549.

-The Netflix Team

Well, sometimes you make a bet and you lose.

So, my (our) options at this point appear to be...

1. Wait around, hope against hope, and pray that HD-DVD miraculously sees a resurgence (umm, yeah...)
2. Hope someone builds a dual-format drive for the Xbox360 that can replace the one I have now (not likely)
3. Buy one of the new dual-format/combo drives that you can put in a PC and go that route (possibility, depending on what they end up costing, and I have to think about how and where I want to play movies)
4. Buy a PS3 (ouch, in so many ways)
5. Just give in and buy a Blu-ray stand-alone player (but I wonder if I should wait til they drop in price some more, they ain't cheap)

Any other ideas? Let me know!

UPDATE re CompUSA: I'm still not sure where the $150 price cut came from, but Reuters and everyone else is now reporting that CompUSA is being sold and, from the sounds of things, pretty much shut down. Stores will remain open over the holidays with some likely fire-sales, so might be the time to see what can be had over the next few weeks... This might explain why the company didn't try to sell me their obligatory extended service plan when I purchased the home server...

I bit the bullet this past weekend and went online over at CompUSA.com and found that a HP MediaSmart Server (the new Windows Home Server OEM device) was in stock at one of the Portland stores (Jantzen Beach, specifically). So, I reserved it online for in-store pickup and headed into the city to get it.

Much to my (very pleasant) surprise, when I got to the store and they rung it up, the $599 price was automagically reduced by $150 as an instant savings at the register (nice!), so I ended up with the 500GB model (the EX-470) for $450 -- which was just fine by me! All that saved money can go toward another hard drive to add to the system's storage capacity.

When I picked up the new server, I was on my way to the Van Halen concert in Portland with a friend (more on that later and in another post), and then we spent the entire next day skiing at Mt. Hood Meadows on Sunday, so the Home Server didn't even get unpacked until late on Sunday night.

HP's packaging is top-notch, and the documentation was excellent. Seriously, the quick setup steps for the hardware are literally three simple steps - Connect the power cord, connect to your LAN router with the Ethernet cable that comes in the box, and push a button. After that, go to a computer on your LAN, pop in a CD, and follow the instructions on the screen.

Windows Home Server is a very cool system. It allows local LAN and remote access, including web-based access for visitors (friends, family, etc). It will back up your computers each night in case something goes wrong with them (Unless you're running an x64 version of Windows - more on that in a minute) and creates a centralized place on your network for media files (audio, video and pictures) as well as installable software. You can copy any type of file to the system (in backup mode or otherwise). The multimedia capabilities allow you to use your Xbox 360 to play the multimedia content stored on the server. The HP flavor also includes iTunes integration (one central library for all your computers) and some other nifty stuff. I pretty much hate iTunes these days (more 64-bit compatibility gripes plus its just so frustratingly bloated), so I am not sure I will actually use that capability, but it's nice to have.

I have one compliment and one gripe at this point in my story about setting up the Home Server out of the box. On the positive side, the setup software is run on a client PC attached to your LAN, and the setup wizard is very user friendly, simple and quick to execute. You don't have to be anything close to a computer expert to install and run this system, which is a huge victory for Microsoft - Great job! However, when I tried to do the setup the first time I did so from my main laptop, which I bought a few months back at a consumer store (also from CompUSA). It would not work. The problem is that my laptop has Vista Ultimate 64-bit installed on it by HP, and the Home Server Client software simply does not support 64-bit Windows. This strikes me as pretty ridiculous in this day and age, and I was more than just a little disappointed. I suppose I could (should) have done my Google homework before I purchased, but seriously... Bill Gates was stating Microsoft's commitment to 64-bit computing back in 2004 and 2005 (and since), and with 64-bit operating systems being installed on consumer computers and sold in retail stores, it seems to me it's time to be shipping 64-bit support in all software right up front. It's really not just about early adopters anymore. And Microsoft's not the only culprit here - there are a number of manufacturers of software that decide for whatever reason not to build in 64-bit support. But I think that's a mistake. That said, word is that 64-bit Home Server Connector bits will be available in early 2008. Okay, so I wish the situation was different but it's not. And yes, building software is expensive and complicated, etc. etc. etc... I know. End of rant.

Once I set up the server using a different client computer (one running 32-bit Vista this time), things went very well. It took very little time and was flawless. My DLink router has UPnP enabled, but for some reason Home Server was not able to automatically configure the Home Server's remote access settings on it, so I had to set that up manually (just three port-forwarding settings after establishing a fixed IP address for the home server on the router). Once the router was configured (the setup program provided all the information I needed in clear and plain language), everything checked out just fine.

From the 32-bit machine I can access the Home Server via a slick console application that lets me configure and access data. It's really a terrific interface, especially for a v1 product. It shows the value in building a clean, network-enabled Windows application over a browser-based web app, for sure. I especially like the remote application capability, which is basically a limited RDP connection for administrative purposes. In order to access the server from my 64-bit machine I can map a drive and/or access the file system via a UNC share name(\\servername\sharename), so I was able to upload a slew of pictures to a shared library that way. I can also RDP into the server from the 64-bit laptop with the standard Windows remote desktop client and launch the Home Server Console that way from the server's remote desktop (a stern warning page is displayed when you login via plain-old RDP, saying be careful and that the preferred method is to use the management console installed on a remote client machine). I'll be glad when the 64-bit client software is available so I don't have to do that anymore.

The hardware is nice, looks good, is fairly quiet and has plenty of expansion room. I've started looking at 750GB and 1TB drives online to determine what I want to buy to build the system out. It has three internal drive bays free and three USB ports as well as an eSATA port on the back, so expansion is pretty flexible. In a podcast that my friend Scott did a while back where he interviewed Windows Home Server product unit manager Charlie Kindel (it's a great show, so you should go listen), Charlie said they had one test system where they added something like 26 drives - wow... The way the system works is cool. You add new drives to the system and it recognizes them and basically through the magic of the underlying software your storage pool grows larger. So, you don't have to worry about multiple drive letters or anything. Also, once you add drives beyond the first one you can set up duplication of folders between different drives for data redundancy. That way the content you mirror will survive the failure of any given drive. Not quite the RAID level of fault tolerance but a good and easy-to-use compromise that provides novice-level flexibility and usability you don't tend to find with RAID controllers. In all, the whole Windows Home Server disk/file subsystem is pretty darn cool.

Perhaps one of the most exciting aspects of Windows Home Server, which I plan to check out over the next few days, is the fact that they opened the system up to allow developers to create add-on applications that expand and enhance the Home Server capabilities. There are already a number of really cool apps, which you can check out here.

So, that's my first impressions. Initial software frustrations aside (and with a future resolution on the horizon), the HP hardware and software and the Windows Home Server operating system check out with very high scores. I can recommend this system without hesitating, and even if you don't know much about computers or networking you'll be able to set this system up and start backing up and sharing information both on your home network and over the Internet with family and friends.

I spent the better part of the last week at my dad's place, along with family and extended family for the holiday. They live in Los Altos, in the South Bay area of California. I decided, in a phase of misguided insanity, to get up at 4:00 a.m. on Friday morning to go down to the local Sears store in order to take  advantage of the Toshiba HD-A3 deal they had going (see an approximately equal Amazon deal here). The HD-A3 is a HD-DVD player, and if you were willing to deal with the crowds, you could score one of the $300 players for $169, which is quite a deal. And it comes bundled with two movies (300 and Bourne Identity - good ones), and Toshiba has a deal where you can get five more HD-DVD movies for free from a list of titles.

Unfortunately, I forgot in my excitement and planning frenzy that Sears sucks. I should have stopped to - oh, I dunno - think or something.

Imagine the lonnnng line at Sears, waiting for the doors on the east side of the store to open precisely at 5am. People were giddy, and excitement poured from the mouths of people in many languages. Since I (of course) was late and was not really all that excited about being the last guy in, I just looked at the line and decided to wander down the sidewalk to the corner to see what other doors might eventually open up. If I was going to be last, I could at least get a good loser seat, you know?

This, friends, is where Sears made it's first mistake. Three other people stood with me at the wrong door, in sight of the long line of people who had been there for presumably hours. My door companions, too, had that dejected, partially confused look of glazed donuts in their eyes. And at about two minutes before the magical hour of 5am, the employees inside the store opened our door - before they opened the door where the long line was waiting.

Now, I don't know if some Sears employee thought that was funny or what, but I can tell you the line of people was collectively pissed, and vocalized that fact as we walked right in our door. Some bolted for our door, as well. Others stood their ground. It turned out it was no big deal, since the long line was at the entrance closest to the stair leading down to the electronics department (which is where everyone was headed - more on that in a minute). But the initial opening of the wrong door had the people worked up, and as we marched down the steps of the non-working escalator to the electronics floor, elbows and attitudes started to fly.

Now, if that was it, I'd say it was really no big deal. But there's a more to the story.

We get to the bottom of the escalator (mostly by force, as the crowd behind is pushing hard to get to  its destination), and see that there is no way to move once there because the growing number of people who have already made it downstairs are all stopped about 20 feet away, looking down at something, shoving and jumping over each other. I work my way through the throng and walk around to the other side and discover what was essentially a small, round end table on the floor with a festive red tablecloth draped over it, and a pencil. One woman among the staff started yelling to the entire crows that they would have to sign up on the paper to be served.

You have got to be kidding me, I thought. Who was the genius who came up with this idea?

I stood there and took a few body-blows to my back and shoulders as a couple fireplugs of individuals tried to force their way through the huddled masses to get to the magical service lamp table. It quickly got to the point where I decided to let a couple of controlled elbows loose when one particular individual got to be a little too rough... Just enough to point out he might want to stop, which he did. Then a seven-foot Neanderthal of an individual tried to barge his way through, and failing that then tried to lean and reach over everyone to sign up that way. He was arms-a-swingin' and managed to elbow my jaw a good one, which I didn't particularly appreciate, so in the true holiday spirit I responded with a quick and (relatively)harmless knuckle jab to the ribs. After a couple of those (hey, I was protecting my face), he decided to back off. At least people were able to recognize they were acting like idiots. Good thing no one was drunk.

Anyhow, this story is supposed to be about finding the HD-DVD player for my dad (which I eventually did), not about wrestling at Sears. Needless to say, I gave up on doing any business at Sears almost immediately. The store had almost every DVD player in their arsenal in boxes on the floor except for the Toshiba HD-DVD player and a couple others. So the only way to get what I needed was to sign up on a list that I could not get to and risk a bruised face. No thanks. I think maybe I'm giving up on Sears for good.

I left and did what all good 'Mericans do at 5:30 a.m. on a Friday. I went to Starbucks and got a latte and an expensive muffin. Then I decided to drive down the street in a city I am completely unfamiliar with (in the dark) and see what other stores/crowds I could find. Not too far away, Circuit City was incredibly freakin' packed. The line went around the back of the building even 30 minutes after they opened, and this was a very large building. I didn't even consider getting in line, but it was a sight to see. Same was true for Best Buy. The line was not as spectacular, but it was equally crazy. At both stores they were well-organized and seemed to have a gameplan in place. Much better than Sears, for sure.

Anyhow, I went back to my dad's house and sat down to finish a good Vince Flynn novel I was almost done reading and spent a couple hours that way, with some more coffee and food. I also got online to see what Costco might have in the way of HD-DVD players, since I know they sell them and I have found Costco over the years to be a great place to shop. Sure enough, they have the "club warehouse" version of the same player that was advertised at Sears, dubbed the HD-D3. And low and behold, once you subtract the in-store discounts, it was pretty much the same freakin' price, and  not just for five hours on that one Friday morning. Plus it comes with a HDMI cable, to boot. So, I jumped back in the car around 10:00 a.m., fired up Google maps and followed the directions to get to the nearest Costco.

Sure enough, there were tons of them stacked up and in stock. I also grabbed a 4GB USB thumb drive for my das for $25 after the coupon, which the guy at the register offered up since I didn't have one with me. That's what I mean about shopping at Costco. Between the prices, the service and the great return policy (which I've rarely had to use but it's great when you need it), it's always a good experience.

Anyhow, in my typical Costco-shopping fashion, I also picked up the entire Mitch Rapp series of paperbacks by Vince Flynn (fun books if you're into the whole CIA fiction novels and stuff like me) at for about $8.00 apiece (great deal), and then headed back to the house. Later we grabbed a HD-DVD copy of Planet Earth from Target (Costco only had the standard DVD version in the store, bummer...) to go along with the new player. My dad hooked it up and we watched some HD and standard DVD content, all of which looks great.

HD-DVD technology is amazing, especially at 1080 resolution. The HD-D3 outputs at 1080i and looks great on my dad's Sharp LCD he just bought. the standard DVD upscaling done my the Toshiba player looks great, with just a few "jaggies" in sharp diagonal lines showing themselves from time to time. The new James Taylor One Man Band DVD (standard DVD resolution) looked awesome on it. I use the Xbox 360 Elite with the HD-DVD drive at home on my 1080p projector, so I get the full 1080p with my setup and it's truly awesome. The HD-D3 has an ethernet port which we hooked up to dad's LAN, and we easily updated to the newest available firmware via the player's menu system.

So, if you're looking for a great deal on HD-DVD players, there are some terrific deals on the Toshiba models (I also hear the HD-A2 is blowing out for around a hundred bucks some places, wow). Check your local Costco store if you're a member.

And skip Sears. Or if you do go there, just be ready to fight dirty.

Okay, who wants to add me for Halo 3 fun? My XBox Live gamertag is gergin8or. I'm pretty lame at these games but what the heck. What's yours?

I was chatting with my friend John Batdorf the other day ...

[EDIT: Actually it was several days ago, because I lost this post twice and didn't realize it was not already on the blog, so it's being posted again late - But I've made some edits below to include more info from him]

... about home Network Attached Storage (NAS) solutions. I have a 750GB Seagate drive that I use via USB2 to store all kinds of stuff on, but you have to plug it in, unplug it, take it to the next machine, etc. And I use a laptop a lot, so it's extra clunky to have to plug in a big external device and corral it up if I want to move, and I move a lot. A network-based mass-storage device would be great for me. And it turns out John is was also looking for something similar.

We discussed some of the requirements. For me it needs to have some redundancy and fail-safe capabilities built in. I have been burned too many times by single-point-of-failure drive crashes. I've almost always been able to do some heavy-lifting and time-consuming recovery (I've learned a few pretty crazy hardware tricks for recovering data over the years), but I really have been quite fortunate not to permanently lose any important data. It's a miracle, really - a lot like dodging bullets. Anyhow, I need RAID and all the good sleep and awesomeness that goes with it.

We both really wanted a true NAS solution providing direct network attachment from anywhere on the LAN, and preferably the flexibility to connect from a variety of common platforms: Windows, Mac OS-X, Linux, Vic20, whatever. Okay not that last one, but the others for sure.

I asked John to send me a summary of his requirements, and here is what he came up with:

Network Attached Storage Requirements on my 10/100 wired network

The primary goal of this purchase is to get all the iTunes media off of my laptop and desktop home systems. It would be a good place to store all my photos (gigs) too. The last ‘goal’ is to be able to backup said laptop and desktop (data files) somehow. It would be cool if the Xbox could access it too, but I think you have to run the connector software to do that.

Necessities:

• iTunes Library shared between multiple computers
  • Should be fast enough to support music transfer with no problems.
  • Would be great if it could do video too.
• Store photos
• The device must be able to be mapped as a drive in windows with no software installation
• 500GB storage
• Price point under $300 for WAF.

Nice to Have:

• Backup software/solution
• Xbox Connectivity
• USB port to add other drives

Not a bad list. Starting with John's list, here is what I would add/change for my needs:

Greg's NAS Requirements List for a 10/100/1000 wired and Wireless-N/G Network

Everything on John's list, with these changes:

• RAID disk subsystem controller
• 1TB+ total storage, which will be divided for RAID purposes (if I can afford it I'd like to get 1TB usable space, but we'll see)
• Hot-swappable drives are a big plus
• Web-based connectivity from the Internet is nice to have, but it must be properly secured
• Skip the WAF since I am not beholden to that, but I want to keep it as low as possible - best bang for the buck

So, it turns out John ordered and just set up a 500GB LaCie Ethernet Disk mini NAS system for under $200, and he likes it a lot so far. It's does everything he needs it to do, it's fast, and it took him literally just a couple minutes to set up and start using it. That's a good sign. Read about his day-one impressions on his blog.

But, for my purposes I still have some researching to accomplishate before gearing my brain-organ into the decisionation phase. So, Dear Reader (I always wanted to say that), what do you think is the best way to go about this and stay within the requirements? What requirements have I missed?

Here's a run-down of the couple things I have under consideration so far, but don't let my little list limit you, and feel free to comment on these as well as provide your own ideas:

• A Windows Home Server setup (probably home-grown, but who knows)
• One of these fine Lacie products

I am sure people who read this will have plenty of other ideas to suggest, as well.

Ready?

Discuss!

This is pretty funny. Note: Some rough language and typical juvenile video game sexual stuff (NSFW). About the same stuff you experience any time you play on Live really, but hey the warning is there in case. Enjoy.

Well, Amazon.com be praised... My new projector is here - The Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 1080 projector, along with a fresh-off-the-press copy of 300 in HD-DVD, a home theater HD-DVD calibration disc, The Matrix Ultimate Collection in HD-DVD (sense a theme yet? heh...) and a VGA cable for my Xbox 360 (which the the one that will let the HD-DVD player get output in true 1080p format - we will see how that goes).

  

Gonna be a fun evening at home. I'll post a review with details once I get my hands dirty. This projector is replacing my old Infocus X1, so I am upgrading from a 800x600 native image to a full 1080p (1920x1080) image and a much newer set of technologies behind it. Should be pretty amazing.

More to come. Time to go geek out for a while.

Quick Update: A-MA-ZING. Like as in wow. Watching the movie "300" in full 1080P at 130 or so inches projected size (I'll have to measure to be sure) is visually amazing. It doesn't even look like a video projection - you can clearly see the film grain and the screen door effect is non-existent. More later, I can't stop looking right now. And after a quick try, Xbox 360 games and HD TV both look amazing, too.

Recently I mentioned that my older Infocus X1 projector's lamp has about a zillion hours on it and I had to do a reset of the timer to keep it running. Also, a month and a half ago I discussed my research into 1080p home theater projectors as I thought about stepping up in quality and capability to replace the X1. The thing that's been holding me back is price relative to what you get in the high-def world. I have the Xbox 360, HD-DVD and a satellite receiver that does 1080p images, so that's what I have been looking into. Sure, you can spend like $5,000 and get a pretty incredible projector, and just a couple years ago you couldn't buy a 1080p projector for less than probably $30K.

I know I want to replace the old projector I have. But I really don't want to spend $5K. Maybe half that amount would be okay, but not much more. So I put my research hat back on today and discovered Epson recently released their PowerLite Home Cinema 1080 projector for home theater. It's super-bright, has a great picture, it's a three-LCD setup, and gets some great reviews. It's practically identical to the 'pro' model of the same line but costs literally $2,000 less. Most notably the retail price is just under $3,000 and for the next few days (til the end of July) there's a $300 mail in rebate from Epson.

Needless to say, I am considering making the move. I'll take some more time to weigh my options and keep researching. I do wonder what (if anything) Epson will do for an incentive once this month's rebate period runs out, but hey who knows...

As I type this, my X1's fan is starting to make a noise like the fan bearings are going bad. Not a good thing. Murphy's law, really. It may be time to break that thing open and clean it out so I can make it last as long as possible, but from the sounds of it I think it may be on its last legs.

Anyone have any experience with the Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 1080 projector? Or have a good alternative I should be considering? Let me know!

UPDATE: I ordered one, so the Epson is my choice for a new projector. Review to come after it arrives Wednesday (Amazon Prime rocks) and I get a little time with it.

I have used an Infocus X1 projector as my relatively inexpensive but good enough home theater equipment for a few years now. It's served me pretty incredibly well. We put a lot of hours on it, between the zillion movies, satellite TV, and extensive Xbox/Xbox360 use. It's not HD resolution and I will soon upgrade (as I have mentioned before), but for not it does the trick.

Anyhow, the other day we turned the projector on and it displayed a warning that there were only like 8 hours remaining on the bulb timer. When they released the projector, as I recall they rated the lamp (and timer) at 3,000 hours. Since then they re-rated it at 4,000 hours. Some people get that much out of a bulb, others don't.

Today my friend Cory and I went to start a movie (Wesley Snipes is The Contractor) and the projector would not fire up the lamp. Enough use had taken place in the past few days since we first saw the timer warnings to ensure the timer had run out. Even though the bulb was not burned out, the projector would not turn it on. I started searching for replacement lamps online and found I was going to have to spend between $260 and $300 in order to replace it (ouch - like I said, time for a new projector at this rate).

While searching for lamps, I decided before I spent that kind of money on a projector I intend to replace that maybe I should ask the Google gods a question in the form of keywords: x1 projector bulb timer wont start. I was lucky, even if I was not necessarily feeling it. The first search result was an Infocus support page that told me exactly what to do at the very end of the long list of equipment (it covers every other projector they have made in detail).

If your X1, X1a, X2, X3 projector's bulb timer has run down to nada and the bulb won't light anymore, do this: Power on the projector and you will probably see a flashing red light on the control panel. Press and hold the Volume + and the Volume – buttons simultaneously for 10 seconds. The projector will reset the lamp counter to zero hours and the lamp will start. Note that what I probably should have done when I started seeing the warning was to reset the timer to zero using the on-screen menu system, but once it goes dead the volume button reset is your only choice.

Turns out the same or a similar tactic applies to a number of their other projectors, too. Check here to find out what to do for your model.

Well here's news via Digital Media Thoughts that the cost of the HD-DVD player for the Xbox 360 is suddenly cheaper. I bought mine about a month ago. I don't suppose they'll grandfather me in? Probably not...

"Today at Comic-Con International 2007, Microsoft Corp. announced it will lower the price of the popular Xbox 360(TM) HD DVD Player from $199 to $179 ERP (United States only) starting Aug. 1, 2007, and will add five free HD DVD movies for anyone purchasing an Xbox 360 HD DVD Player between Aug. 1 and Sept. 30. In addition, Microsoft further solidified the Xbox 360 as the ultimate high-definition (HD) entertainment platform, with key announcements around the HD DVD launches of "300" from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group and "Heroes: Season 1" from Universal Studios."

This is a great deal, but let me give you even more incentive: most of the Xbox 360 HD DVD drives on store shelves also include the media remote, and King Kong on HD DVD. On top of that, through the Xbox Live Rewards program (which is free), you can get an additional 10% off at Circuit City. So to sum up: the drive, the remote, and six movies, for just $162. Hell of a deal!

Source: Digital Media Thoughts

Over the past several years I realize I am spending less often. Not sure I am spending less, heh, but at least not as many times in any given, oh, month or whatever. Last week I broke down after much consternation over a few months and picked up one of the Xbox 360 HD-DVD drives. I took it home and hooked it up and popped in the HD version of King Kong.

As many have written similarly in the past, the picture and sound are pretty incredible. But, since I have an older DLP projector (an InFocus X1), I am not getting the full fidelity of a HD image.

So, long story short, even on the X1 the quality is noticeably and substantially better than standard DVDs. But it's  not what it can be, so I find my self leaning toward a decision point: I need a new projector. I don't want a flat screen, I don't think. I have a 120-inch (or more) diagonal image on the wall now, and I like it that way. One room is there just for the theater-like experience. It's not my living room, in other words.

 There are a number of newer 1080p projectors out there now, as it turns out, and they don't cost a zillion bucks anymore. I have been researching newer models and have found a couple that look interesting. But I figured there might be some readers of this here site that would have some experience and input.

Here is what I have found so far - what do you think, and what am I missing?

• the JVC DLA-HD1 (or it's cousin, the all-black JVC DLA-RS1) - this is my running favorite
• or the Sony VPL-VW50 (nicknamed the "Pearl")
• or the Optoma HD81
• or the Mitsubishi HC5000

Any ideas anyone?

UPDATE (July 28, 2007): Epson also has a real contender out that I am considering in their PowerLite Home Cinema 1080 model.

I've decided after juggling multiple remotes for a bunch of different equipment for far too long that it's time to go on the search for an advanced universal home theater remote that will let me control my projector, surround system, various components like DVD players and XBOXes and whatnot, as well as my room lighting. Programmable one-button setups for multiple devices is what I have in mind. I want to be able to hit a button and have al these systems lines themselves up, set the volume, turn down the lights, etc. In fact, bonus points if it can also control other items in other parts of the house and if I can set up enough macros to where my roomie can have his own preferences for lighting, volume, etc.

In my early searches, I have found a number of very expensive models that I would have to take a new mortgage out for in order to acquire. People actually spend that much money on remotes? Holy cow! We're talking in the thousands of dollars for some of these things. It's ridiculous. There is no way in the world I can spend more than say $800, and even that would really be way too much unless it does everything I am looking for. I'd hope to be able to do some Froogling and find some street prices that get it all under $500. I'm not holding my breath.

Anyhow, what do people recommend? There are a number of home theater geeks at my work and I am sure they'll each have their opinions and experiences, and I hope to get some more ideas before diving into the water myself. Please leave a comment with your thoughts and experiences, or with descriptions of remotes you may have run across in your own research. Thanks!

Effective immediately and as of today, Microsoft has extended the warranty period for the Xbox 360 console to one full year. And those of us who bought one in the past get the benefits of the new warranty period, too - not just new purchasers.

On top of that, if you paid for any repairs in the first year of ownership, you'll be getting a reimbursement check. Wow, not how's that for a good deal eh?

From the Xbox web site:

Effective today (December 22), the one year warranty is now the standard for all Xbox 360 consoles. Customers that experience hardware issues with their Xbox 360 within one year of purchase will have their consoles repaired at no cost. Moreover, the new warranty policy is retroactive, so consumers that may have already paid for out-of-warranty Xbox 360 repair within one year of the console's purchase will be eligible for reimbursement of their console repair charges.

Nice!

On10.net has a video demonstrating the forthcoming Zune media players (the guys there got a couple pre-release models to mess around with). The video demo shows sharing pics and music between devices wirelessly.

I think I'm-a-gonna get me one of those... Looks like it will be a even better option than my iPod for video on airplanes maybe.

Watch the video here.

the Zune is scheduled to be available November 14th for $249.99. It includes a whole host of cool features:

WMA, MP3, AAC, JPEG,WMV, MPEG-4, H.264 media playback
Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g) connectivity
30 GB Hard Drive
3 inch video LCD 320x240
White, Black, and Brown Colors
FM Radio
TV output connectivity 640x480
Dedicated song download site (Zune Marketplace)
DJ Mode
Podcast playback
Updateable Firmware
Estimated 12 hr battery life for audio, 3.5 hr video
3 day playback of Wi-Fi transfered songs from friends (hmmm...) 
XBOX streaming
XBOX (Microsoft) points compatability
Preloaded music videos
Over a dozen accessories at launch
5.6 ounces in weight, 4.4 x 2.4 x 0.58 inches size
Metric: 158 g, 112 x 61 x 14.7 mm size
Custom background images
WiFi transfer of photographs
Tag based storage system (Will not appear as drive)
PC Compatability (no Mac client at launch)
Zune tag enabled
Horizontal and vertical video orientation

Technorati tags: Zune

Yesterday at work, I had the privilege of spending a couple hours with this cool kid named Connor. He's the son of a friend and coworker, and is an all-around good kid. Every now and then he'll come to work with his mom for a day and we'll hang out for a bit. It sure beats back-to-back meetings, heh.

Sidebar: For what it's worth, I'd kill to be eleven years old again (if I could stay that age, that is - no point in going through all those intervening years again, heh...).

True to form, he asked if we still have an XBOX. People kind of freak out when I tell them I bought an XBOX 360 for work. We actually have a couple of them on campus. "Video games at work??" they ask me. Heck yeah - it's a great way for creative minds to take an occasional and much-needed brain break (as long as it doesn't become something that's overdone), and some of the best idea-generating conversations happen when you're kicking someone else's butt in DOA4 or some other game. It's also of great interest, it turns out, to eleven-year-old kids. Yeah, go figure.

But most of the time we spent hanging out on Monday was occupied with trying to find a clean whiteboard somewhere in the building that didn't say "SAVE" on it (what the heck is up with THAT anyhow?) and then talking about computers and networks and how they work. Teaching kids something they have yet to learn about is really a lot of fun. I explained the underlying technology basics of how web browsers and web servers work, using analogies like phone books (for DNS), mapquest data (for routes) and phone numbers (for IP addresses) to try to describe some pretty complicated, intangible and abstract stuff in a way that makes some sort of sense. You know - looking up a name in a phone book and finding the phone number is like looking up a URL in DNS and getting an IP address, and using mapquest to figure out how to get from one place to another one step at a time is a lot like finding the route to a web server... We got a little more detailed than that, but you get the idea. His face really lit up when - all of a sudden - he "got it."

Next thing I knew, he was explaining how it works to me. Which was really cool. :)

I used to teach middle school kids back in the day, and there's something about those "getting it" moments that are a lot of fun to watch. Seeing reality expanding itself in a kid's mind is a pretty amazing thing. They sure do learn quickly.

At any rate, Connor will be back again sometime soon, and we'll see who's teaching whom whenever that day comes. For my part, I'm betting on the kid.

I lucked out last night - big time. We dropped by the Best Buy store in Beaverton (that's Oregon) after a fun day hanging out at OMSI and cruising Portland, just in case by some random chance they had any of the complete Xbox 360 kits around (as opposed to the "core" system version). Sure enough, a hand-made sign inside the door read "Xbox 360's in stock!"

We headed back to the place where they have the consoles, and sure enough, there were about 15 white and green boxes stacked behind the table. So I bought two - one for me at home and one for work, where all the people that work for me can play during breaks (I have been promising them one for quite awhile now - they work hard, they should play hard now and then). Added a few games and extra controllers, and walked out poor (for what it's worth, the funds have been set aside for some time waiting for a store to stock them and for me to show up before they got bought up), but also a bit excited and with a feeling of accomplishment. Finally!

I hooked mine up at home last night. I played Battlefield 2 and Need for Speed: Most Wanted. I also got Quake 4, but have not played it yet. Maybe tonight. The graphics, digital sound and animation on this thing are all freakin' A-MA-ZING.

And today, my Xbox 360 decided to start blogging. Yes, seriously. My console has it's own blog. Go figure. I guess new posts will start showing up soon. And you thought those blogging Aibos were cool eh? Nahhh... Heh.

I have to say, this is one seriously nice gaming and home entertainment console. Projected on my wall at 120 inches, that's some serious game play, and of course DVD movies look and sound great, too. I need to fire up the Media Center PC (need to fix a hard drive issue first) and tie these things together - that will be a killer combo for sure.

(Thanks, Trevin for the blogging link)

Microsoft's Windows Live ID team has started a blog to communicate information about the new product, which is a replacement/upgrade for the Passport service. From the inaugural post:

"Windows Live ID is the upgrade/replacement for the Microsoft Passport service and is the identity and authentication gateway service for cross-device access to Microsoft online services, such as Windows Live, MSN, Office Live and Xbox Live.  Is this the authentication service for the world?  No   It's primarily designed for use with Microsoft online services and by Microsoft-affiliated close partners who integrate with Windows Live services to offer combined innovations to our mutual customers.  We will continue to support the Passport user base of 300+ Million accounts and seamlessly upgrade these accounts to Windows Live IDs.  Partners who have already implemented Passport are already compatible with Windows Live ID.
 
"Windows Live ID is being designed to be an identity provider among many within the Identity Metasystem.  In the future, we will support Federated identity scenarios via WS-* and support InfoCards.
 
"For developers we will be providing rich programmable interfaces via server and client SDKs to give third party application developers access to authenticated Microsoft Live services and APIs.
 
"Over the next few weeks as we complete our deployment, you will see the Windows Live ID service come alive through our respective partners sites and services.  The first thing you’ll notice as early as today is that the word Passport is being replaced by Windows Live ID.  But isn't a rebranding exercise -- there is stuff going on under the hood.  This will be more understandable in the coming weeks and months when you start seeing the new, exciting Windows Live sign-in UI.  Not only is the page load time significantly reduced, but you will see some really cool innovative features that we’re sure you’ll love :)"

I'll likely be writing here on this weblog about Infocard (which I have early some experience with), authentication and other related topics, since I have a professional connection to all of the above. Glad to see the Live ID team getting their blog start - this is the beginning of what should be a great phase of changes and improvements in the area.

Recently a couple coworkers at Corillian turned me on to TextPayMe, which is a cool service you can use to send money to others (and even to a few online merchants). Click the banner below to check it out and sign up for free - They'll even deposit five bucks in your TextPayMe account when you sign up. For real. You don't even have to provide a credit card or bank account info unless you want to transfer funds into the TextPayMe account, so there's no risk. It costs you nothing.

And, if 35 people sign up via this link, I'll get a XBOX 360. You can do the same thing. nice eh?

    

TextPayMe services are used to send payments to (and receive payments from) people you know, using text messaging on your mobile phones or wireless PDAs (I'm using it on my Blackberry phone). Let's say you go to a restaurant with three friends. Instead of asking the waiter to split the bill, or even worse trying to find the right amount of cash to put in the pool and pay your part, one person pays the bill, and the other three send their part to the person who paid using TextPayMe. They send it to your cell phone number, nice and easy. And for the people sending the money, the security system (which is a two-factor secure system - nice) calls their cell as soon as they text the payment. They answer the phone and are prompted by the peppy IVR voice on the other end to enter a PIN (which you provide at the time you sign up). Only then is money sent.

So - a cool service to try, nothing to lose, and five bucks to gain! Click here to go to the TextPayMe site and sign up to give it a try!

I broke down last week and bought an iPod. I got the 60GB model (5G iPod Video, black) and its a pretty cool device. Not without its quirks, but cool for sure. I like it, and I'll be adding some of the available (expensive) accessories as soon as I figure out which of the zillion accessory manufacturers actually makes something worth buying. Talk about a zoo...

iTunes is all hooked up (pretty cool app dontcha know), a few podcasts are subscribed (small list below for people who are interested) and a couple movies have been loaded. Great video conversion information and help can be found here, by the way. I've only bought one song on iTunes so far, and that will probably change but I think it says something that after having this thing for a week I've used it primarily to load some video for traveling and to subscribe to syndicated content (audio and video podcasts).

I really, really wish - every time I look at an apple product package - that they would at least tell me what is included and what's not. I know, I know... I could just ask any random human being on the street what came with their iPod and the zoo of accessories they own, since I am like the last person in the world to buy one of these things, but seriously - no compact wall charger? Leaving out the iPod dock is crazy enough, but I figured there would at least be an AC-outlet-to-USB thing in there.

One thing I learned early on: When it says "do not disconnect" on the screen, regardless of the fact that the message stays there for-freakin-ever, it's best not to disconnect it. If you do, and your iPod starts an endless cycle of reboot, power up, power off, flash the display, reboot, power up, power off, flash the... Yeah, anyhow the iPod updater has a "Restore" option that nukes the iPod, reformats the hard drive and installs all the software from scratch. Works wonders.

Oh and another thing - I can only sync this $400 device to one computer? Seriously? Ok, so I can hook up to a second computer and as long as I don't choose auto-sync, I can manually move files to the iPod. But this is not so good: Mac and Windows synced iPods are not compatible? Jeez, there's something worth spending some serious dev time on. Using the iPod updater to reformat the thing so I can use it on the Mac mini doesn't solve any problems, it creates them. And there's no way I'm buying Apple computers just to work with the iPod.

Oh, and copy-protection and all that RIAA crap aside, iTunes is a service, and it should flow from computer to computer with the authenticated user's settings and content, and I should be able to sync to the iPod anywhere I am logged in. In other words, some content everywhere, and associate the device with my user account, not my computer.

Anyhow, in the accessories department, it's pretty clear I need an iPod dock. I'll have to break down and ask my friends if it comes with a USB cable, or if I have to purchase that separately, too. I won't be shelling out the $20 for Apple's video cable so I can play content on my TV or projector - I think I'll just use one of the almost-exactly-the-same cables I already have lying around the house and just mix up the plugs as described at the Mac Dev Center site:

• Plug the red RCA plug into your TV's yellow RCA jack.
• Plug the yellow RCA plug into your TV's white RCA jack.
• Plug the white RCA plug into your TV's red RCA jack.

Pure. Freakin. Genius. If it works.

But don't get me wrong here. I'm complaining a bit about the proprietary, non-standard and closed nature of the Apple way of business, but this is a terrific piece of hardware, as the marketplace has clearly proven. Audio quality is great. The user experience is simple, flows and just works. But you already know that.

I stopped by a couple stores the other night between appointments and checked out the plethora of radio-transmitter accessories. I spend a lot of time driving (two hours of commute time daily), so having something that does a good job of transmitting relatively high quality audio to my FM car radio would be nice. On the higher end of the car-audio purchasing spectrum (about $200), the Harman Kardon Drive+Play looks really cool. Not sure if it's video iPod compatible, but I have emailed them to ask. The Monster iCruze also looks nice and it is confirmed to work with the iPod Video models, but I need to make sue my car stereo is compatible - And it's on sale in a huge way as of the time of this writing: $99 for a complete kit. A FAQ page is here.

Oh, and (sidebar comment here) you gotta check out the videos on this page at the HK Drive+Play site - especially the "Title and Registration" one. Heheh...

Below are the few podcasts to which I've subscribed so far. Now that I am coming back to podcasts (my first round with them was more geeky in nature than practical, which is my approach nowadays) the number of shows I am interested in subscribing to is relatively small. I'm pickier. You'll note these all tend to be either professionally produced shows or well-produced indi ones, and that the only common denominator is that they're relevant and matter to me. And none of them are podcasters talking about podcasting. Thank goodness we moved past that phase.

Note: The iTunes interface makes it pretty much impossible for me to figure out where the real home pages are for these podcasts, so it's hard to link you to them, sorry. If someone knows a trick, please tell me (hey Apple - seems like easy access to a phobos.apple.com subscription link plus a standardized "home site" URL in the iTunes XML and UI would be a nice thing to do for sharing subscription links?).

• Diggnation (video and audio podcasts) - these guys sit around and discuss what's hot on Digg.com
• Ebert & Roeper - movie reviews from the top critics, weekly audio from the broadcast television show
• Engadget podcast - ultimate gadget geek site and podcast show (but their RSS feed is broken and iTunes is out of date, ugh)
• Major Nelson Radio - podcast from inside the world of the XBOX and XBOX Live!
• NASACast video - this Week at NASA video podcast - just a cool, short video update on what's happening at the space agency
• Security Now! podcast - Consumer focused security audio show - We really need more security-focused podcasts
• Superman Returns, Bryan Singer's Journal - The director of Superman Returns video-blogs lots of interesting stuff in the process of the creation of Superman Returns, which is set to hit theaters this year. Professionally produced video shows (I don't think Bryan is shooting any of these, but hey...)

I have been awfully busy lately, with lots and lots of work projects, travel for work and personal purposes, and all the rest of life on top of that. As a result, there are over a hundred interesting tidbits of info I set aside with hopes of writing here about them.

But since I know in the real world that won't ever happen, here are the 48 random things that caught my eye ad attention long enough for me to save each one - These fall mostly in the tech category:

New digital camera chip slashes power consumption 50x
Cingular To Offer Free Webcast on 8700c Development
Photon, the next version of Windows Mobile
Mobile WiMax standard gets IEEE seal of approval
Ian Holsman/Feh! v2: What is 99% uptime anyway?
Wireless IP PBX from Samsung
Google Local Now Available for the Blackberry
PetCell GPS tracker phone for dogs
Cingular launches their 3G BroadbandConnect network
USPTO rejects yet another NTP patent
Ask Engadget: What's the best home projector? (part II)
makezine.com: MAKE's Mostly Under $100 Gift Guide 2005!
Dr Divx 2.0 Released!!!
Configure WMCE for HDTV without a full-time NTSC tuner
Alternative PDF viewer
And what would you do with an extra $430?
The World’s Worst IT Organization
Blackberry 8700 Examined: Themes
Beginners Guide to Securing a Pc
SPS Sites Navigator
IPTVshows
SharePoint: Web Part (Status Report)
99 Useful Run Commands
How To Write Unmaintainable Code
The Ultimate Guide to Google Services
Design Your Own Blackberry Theme
Really Simple Sharing
Microsoft and Open Text announce new strategic relationship
DIY Steadicam Camcorder Stabiliser
VoIP Telephony with Asterisk
Xbox 360 Media Download Center Available for Download
Is a Hybrid Worth It?
Windows Workflow Foundation Beta 1.2
Is Microsoft's Sparkle the new Flash?
Build a Google Maps service
Windows Desktop Search Loses Toolbar
Steve Rubel/Micro Persuasion: Ten Blogging Hacks
Circuit City selling Xbox 360s 3.5 days early?
Think AWK and GREP sound funny? Try SPLUNK!
Record anything with "Silent Bob"
Microsoft Looks to Scrum to Speed Development
One Bad Apple Spoils the XPod 360
Flowfinity Wireless Launches Blackbird
Arming administrators with full client control
A change in URI parsing between IE7 and IE6
McAfee's end-point security beta on the way
JPEG iFilter - Index your images
American Science and Surplus

Everyone knows XBOX360's are in very short supply, and the ones that are available are being swept up as soon as they hit shelves. So, it makes sense that a few web resources have appeared to help you find one.

• http://xbox.clambert.org/ - Best Buy stores in the US will be receiving fresh inventory next weekend (the 18th). This site lets you enter your ZIP code and find out how many will be arriving at a store(s) near you.
• http://www.notify360.com/ - Sign up for a free or premium service that will notify you when online retailers have XBOX360 consoles available to purchase.

Sounds like there will be opportunities to find one before Christmas. Rumor on Friday was that there were Costco stores with large shipments at that time in some areas.

Microsoft's Major Nelson, XBOX Live Director of Programming grand poobah, says they're cranking out new consoles and shipping XBOX 360s to stores weekly, so there' still a chance.

Last night I contemplated waking up earlier than usual, getting in the car and going down to the local Wal Mart (well, as local as can be when you live in the sticks) to get in line to buy a XBOX 360 console. After doing some rough calculations in my head last night, I realized that between travel and work, I'll hardly be home between now and the end of the year, so maybe right now isn't the best time for me to buy one anyhow. Oh, but I will be buying one, no worries there.

Still, Wal Mart is on my drive to work, and so I decided to grab my standard morning coffee from the little store at the bottom of the hill, drive into town, and do some people watching. After all, I realized, it's more the excitement and the weirdness of the hype around the event than the console itself. An XBOX 360 today is the same box and hardware as you can buy later. But the launch fans? That only happens once.

So I headed out for the big ol' St. Helens, Oregon Wal Mart. I listened to the radio on the way there, and heard stories of gamers in places like Manhattan, NY, where apparently people had been lined up forever (like lots of places around the country) and Bellevue, Washington, where Bill Gates went to the local Best Buy and picked up his own console. Somehow I don't think he needed to do that, but hey - it was cool. 

Honestly, I was more interested in watching the people when they opened the store than I was in buying a console on Day One. I'm more interested, too, in how much they'll be selling for on eBay later today, and about when the day will be that they start dropping them off the backs of trucks at stores in huge numbers. One friend says he thinks it will be on Thursday night. Another person I know tells me the store he pre-ordered from called and let him know his delivery would be delayed, and that they were not sure if he would get his before Christmas. People are lining up everywhere. Clearly, the demand is high and the supply (either artificially or in actuality) is short.

Anyhow, back to the local Wal Mart. I wasn't sure what to expect in the Big Town of St Helens. I pulled into the parking lot and saw a small crowd of about 15-20 shivering people huddled right next to the front door of the store. A couple of people were (smartly) waiting in their vehicles with the heat on. I pulled up and deduced that the Wal Mart store has probably handed out numbers to the first people to show up, but that's where things got more interesting. Every employee that came anywhere near the front door was the target of sly, mean-sounding questioning. "Are they coming to open the door? Hurry up, it's f***n' cold out here! What?!? No?!?!? G*d d*mnit!"

When it came time to open the door and head for the counter - and keep in mind, everyone had a number - the race walk through the door turned into a jog, and then quickly into a sprint for the back of the store, where ten boxes sat stacked neatly behind a counter. I followed (at a walking pace, of course) to observe. A couple of people commented on the foot race and we all laughed a little. Mostly the people (at least those who didn't have a number) noticed how strange the whole thing was. All this for a video game console? Hey, for some it's what life is all about, I guess.

So, I started to think about the gamer personality. Some of the people were needlessly quiet and cagey, not really letting on as to who had what number, and some were not even providing information about whether numbers were even given out. It was amusing, really. There was this competitive hype attitude. The need to be first, to sneak around that metaphoric corner on the battle map and shoot your opponent in the back of the head.

It's really kinda interesting.

Fist fights, secrecy, celebration, celebrity, short supply, bright green boxes, launch hype, auction hype and even more random hype. Some will be upset they can't get one, others will be upset they pre-ordered and the kid down the street was first, and others will be holed up in their rooms for the next five days with lots of Mountain Dew, Red Bull, Doritos and Little Betty Snack Cakes turning a whole new shade of pasty white with a day-glow green tint brought on by the magical glow of the XBOX 360, only to emerge into a world where the colors are not quite as bright, the definition is not quite as high, and the people with guns in their hands are the ones you want to avoid. Ahhh, the life...

Merry Christmas and all that. Earlier and more bizarre every year. 

But hey, dude, it's a sweet console.

Hard core console gamers are already camping out tonight in front of Best Buy stores and other retailers hoping to get their clammy paws on a new XBOX 360 console, which are in predictably short supply at stores as the launch happens Tuesday.

And be sure to check out the XBOX360 Fanboy blog for all the latest news. Heh. Bill Gates is even going to show up at the Bellevue Best Buy store to hand out the first one and play some games with the crowd.

I'm not, like, old or anything (ugh), but I'm not as young as I once was. Still, I might wake up early (I tend to do so anyhow) and truck it on down to the local WalMart, where they have exactly ten consoles that will be on sale at 7am tomorrow. Word is the Fred Meyer store (for those not in the northwest, take WalMart and fancy it up significantly) in the next town over got seven units and will be doing a lottery for whoever is in line at 5am, then selling them when the store opens at 7am. In the city, people are lined up at Best Buy stores to get one of the 50 units that each store supposedly has.

When I stopped by the WalMart on the way home, the phone at the electronics counter was ringing off the hook. The guy at the counter just shook his head, and told me that phone's rung more than a couple hundred times today with people asking about the XBOX 360 console.

So here are the real questions we're all wondering about:

• How many units shipped for launch?
• When will the truckloads of consoles hit the stores? Should we start a pool?
• Is this possibly a planned shortage thing, or is the supply really that low?
• What will they be selling for on eBay tomorrow afternoon?

I dunno... I know I'll be buying one of these, but I'm not quite sure if I'll be getting up bright and early to scrape the windshield and stand in the sub-freezing temperatures to gamble on something I might not walk away with. Heheh... Maybe I am getting old.

If you already have a bunch of XBOX games, you've likely been wondering what's the dealio with the new console? Will you be able to play your old original XBOX games on the new XBOX 360? If so, will they play better? Will they be displayed in HD?

Well, Microsoft has posted the official backward-compatibility list of games you'll be able to play on the new console when it launches on November 22nd. There's also a Q&A page that answers a lot of questions about backward compatibility and how the legacy games will work. It looks like the list will likely grow over time, so you can check back to see if more games get added.

As of the time I am posting this, there are 207 titles on the list. Not too shabby, and definitely more than I expected.

And - even bigger news - every game title on the list will be up-scaled to HD resolutions of 720p and 1080i and will use the 360's anti-aliasing engine. Wow, that's great news! Yes, it's up-scaling, but the end result is better game experience on the old titles when using the new hardware. Nice. To do backward compatibility, you'll need a hard drive accessory (which is an option for the less-expensive "Core" XBOX 360 package, and is included in the premium package. 

Microsoft notes that: "A software emulator is required for each original Xbox game you play on your Xbox 360™ console. Please check back for more details as we approach the launch date."

From the Q&A page come these useful nuggets of information:

Xbox.com: How is your backward compatibility solution going to work?

Todd: As you’ve heard from us before, backward compatibility on Xbox 360 is done through software. Now that we’ve solved the technical challenge and the emulator is working, we’re certifying each original Xbox title by hand to run on Xbox 360.

What I’m really proud to tell you and your readers is that it’s easy to get the emulation software, and it’s free. We’ll give gamers a choice—you can get the latest software updates from Xbox Live, burn a CD from xbox.com or sign up on Xbox.com for a CD that can be delivered to your home at a nominal shipping and handling fee. Once you get the CD, put it in your Xbox 360 and you’re ready to go.

Xbox.com: Will there be any benefits to playing original Xbox games on my Xbox 360 console?

Todd: Absolutely. One of the great things about gaming on Xbox 360 is the satisfaction of knowing that every game will be playable in high definition. We are now proud to reveal that this extends to the original Xbox games as well. Every original Xbox game will be upscaled to 720p and 1080i, and will take advantage of Xbox 360’s anti-aliasing capabilities, delivering a picture that is clearer and crisper than anything available on Xbox.

UPDATE: Rory comments on the slashdot comments on the XBOX 360 backward compatibility announcement. Slashdot readers were typically (and predictably) assinine, and Rory is his typical genius self.

HO-LY CRR-AP!!

Okay, so... When Microsoft says the XBOX 360 is a whole new level of gaming machine, they're serious.

I just played a couple shooters on a XBOX 360 game console and that's it, I'm sold. The graphics are GREAT. The visuals make the gameplay amazing, and it's clear the processing and video power is extreme. Add to that the Media Center connections and, well... Wow.

If you want to get your hands on one, go to the Best Buy in Beaverton, Oregon on Cedar Hills Blvd. Apparently, at least according to the sales guy there, that store is the second one to get a working display setup (the first one was a WalMart in California, he said). Some Microsoftie walked in with a bunch of boxes, set up the display, and just left. "No one knew what to do!" said the Best Buy kid. Heh. Cool.

The crowd was excited. A sign is taped to the end cap where the 360 resides that says "5 minutes, please." The crew of giddy people (mostly adults by the way) quietly contained themselves and politely took turns splattering people with their virtual firearms. It pretty much rocked. Ooohs and Aahhhhs abound.

Check it out if you can. I'll try to post some pics in the next day or two if I can get back there. This was the first day in months I didn't have my camera with me, go figure.

The XBox 360 console will be released in late November, and Microsoft has announced that several games will be backward-compatible and will run on the new machine.

Here's your chance (for the next few days, anyhow) to vote on which games will receive backward-compatibility support:

"... when it comes to determining backwards compatibility, the ball is entirely in Microsoft's court. As you'd expect, they've already baked-in all the no-brainer Xbox games that will work on 360 (e.g., Halo 1 and 2, Knights of the Old Republic, Fable, etc.), but with the Xbox 360 launch just around the corner this November, the boys from Redmond are unofficially reaching out to the gaming community to learn what remaining games Xbox fans would like to see backwards compatible on Xbox 360.

"We present below (split into two digestible lists) 80 worthy Xbox titles Microsoft isn't sure about. 80 games that will, over the course of the next 5 days, battle it out to the death. While there are no guarantees that the top 10 or 20 games will make it into the backwards compatibility list, or even what the cut-off number will be for the top titles, the stakes here are unquestionably high. To be sure, Microsoft will be checking out these results to gauge consumer interest in many of these excellent games. And they will act accordingly. So know that your vote will make a difference."

http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3143553&did=1

I got a wild hair a week or two ago and picked up a Steel Battalion game and uber-controller on eBay.

Oh. My. God.

Wow...

This game - and it's incredible game controller setup (detail here, image at right) - is pretty darned cool.

At lineofcontact.net, they essentially say that Steel Battalion and Steel Battalion: Line of Contact are both "daunting games to be a novice at, even for very experienced gamers." That's an understatement. 

Line of Contact is the XBOX Live multiplayer sequel to the original single-player game: "The level of complexity entailed in the game is on a par with PC based massively multiplayer role playing games, but with a challenging controller interface, live voice-based communication and a stiff penalty for inattentiveness (eject or lose your pilot)."

It's an awesome simulator game, where you "pilot" a futuristic vertical tank (VT - basically like in Mechwarrior) and the controller has (get this) something like 40 freakin' buttons, and they all actually work! Mastering this game will be nearly impossible. So sweet!

I hooked it all up this evening, and immediately failed to make the thing drive very well, so I focused instead on shooting the heck out of stuff. And since I did not eject in time, my player got completely wiped out. Yep - you have to eject if your VT gets shot up bad enough, in order to keep your player alive and available for the next round. Talk about simulators, heheh...

If you've never seen this game, especially if you like simulators, you should check it out any chance you get. Heck - Call me and drop by (if you happen to be in the Middle of Nowhere anytime soon), I'll let you play this one.

It's a great addition to my pile of Microsoft XBOX stuff.

Tons of high-definition Windows Media video files with some pretty amazing footage from a whole slew of upcoming XBOX 360 games are available for download over at Microsoft.

This is going to be a great console - the possibilities are fun to think of... Hook it up with Longhorn's version of Media Center and you have a super-cool HD Media Center extender. Great games, too of course.

Check out the videos. Amazing. Just make sure you have a big fat pipe for downloading or be prepared to hurry up and wait. These files are 720p hi-def format, so they're pretty darned big, but super cool looking.

Kikizo.com has another (big ol') video of the XBOX 360 team discussing what's so cool about the upcoming console. This one's different than the Our Colony video from the other day (although it does share a little common footage).

Nice, and interesting how this marketing thing is happening... View the video here.

The next version of the XBOX, called the XBOX 360, was announced today. They did this kinda lame thing for a half hour on MTV (but hey, what do you expect on that channel), but the device itself looks really awesome. Games, pictures, video, audio - it's a HD media center extender and game console and much more.

If you saw the MTV thing and found it lacking, check out this video. It's very good.

(found via Engadget)

UPDATE: Another preview video has hit the net.

From now til June 8th, you can do your best to hack an IIS 6.0 server, and if you're successful, you'll win an Xbox. WindowsIT Pro has issues their Hack IIS 6.0 Challenge.

If you think you've got what it takes, head on over and hack away!

• May 2 - Challenge begins with very basic static HTML web site to focus hackers on hacking IIS code
• May 16 - ASP.NET web site put up to give more potential hacking angles
• June 8 - Contest ends
• June 9 - Winner (or lack of winner) announced at TechEd in Orlando.

All the details are here, and the rules are here.

The Game Developer's Conference is always an interesting even with lots of cool news for game geeks to get all anticipatory over.

Microsoft's released some screen caps showing off the user interface for the next-generation XBOX Guide - an entertainment gateway for users. The also describe the future XBOX experience: "games, friends, music, and more."

The sample images and more info are available here.

You can also listen to the keynote address by Microsoft's J Allard, in which he speaks about the next-gen XBOX:

• J Allard Keynote video in WMV Format
• Keynote demonstration video in WMV Format
• J Allard Keynote In MP3 Format
• J Allard Keynote In WMA Format

(found via Engadget)

This post is for the brain-dead and hermits among us.

Just in case you missed it, Halo 2 is coming out this week on Tuesday Noveber 9th. Thousands of stores are opening at midnight+1 to sell the game, so find the stores closest to you, choose one, and go get in line.

Meanwhile, here are a few new and nifty items to tide you over until Tuesday at 12:01 am:

• Halo 2 skin for Windows Media Player
• First cut from the Halo 2 soundtrack (“Blow me Away” by Breaking Benjamin)
• The Xbox.com Halo 2 web site&amp;nbsp;(lots of cool stuff)<BR>
• Bungie's Halo 2&amp;nbsp;web site
• Xbox TV - trailers, interviews, other videos (very good documentary, too)

So - is anyone actually taking vacation from work to beat the game? Heh.

Here is what Microsoft says you'll need - go to the xbox.com readiness guide page for more details...

The Essentials

• A copy of the most anticipated game of 2004: Halo® 2. (Obviously!)
• An active subscription to Xbox Live™.
• An Xbox®-compatible router.
• A Friends List full of potential opponents and teammates.
• A linked Gamertag.
• A TV and sound system to take in the whole experience. (HDTV and Surround Sound optional, but recommended.)
• At least one day completely set aside for nothin’ but gaming bliss.
• Supplies (food, refreshments, toilet paper, etc.).

Who's planning on getting in line and buying their copy at midnight? I'm game if someone else is going along, but I won't be skipping work, I'm not that hard-core, heh.

Among the many, many new Media Center PC news items to hit the street this past week, I forgot to mention one that has had me all excited ever since it was first mentioned some time ago: The Media Center Extender for Xbox.

I'm in the process building a Media Center Dev Machine so I can work on a few tech ideas I want to explore and try. Since I already have an XBOX, I will probably pick this title up and use it to set up part of my Media Center network at home. I just have to work out the details around tuning the satellite box and whether I am going to be able to get a decent Portland HDTV signal out here (and hence which capture device and tuner I'll use and whether I have to use one or two tuners).

The Xbox title is one of the Extender line (a set-top box is also available) that Microsoft is releasing with this new version of their media-centric operating system.

Information from xbox.com:

With a wired or wireless connection to the Media Center PC (sold separately), the Xbox console now allows you to enjoy the digital entertainment media from your PC when and how you want. The included remote control and IR receiver also support DVD movie playback. Just grab the remote, drop in the Media Center Extender DVD in your Xbox, and get ready for an entertainment revolution! A whole new world for your Xbox awaits …

• Watch and record television shows.
• Enjoy a free integrated TV Program Guide with no fees.
• Access your Media Center PC’s digital media library music, videos, and pictures.
• Stay connected with instant messaging and Xbox Live™.
• Watch DVD movies.
• Listen to FM and Internet radio.

Screen-shots are available at xbox.com:

Buy.com is taking pre-orders for the soon-to-be-released Media Center Extender devices made by Linksys.

What are Media Center Extenders? They are devices that communicate with a Windows Media Center 2005 (I believe that is an actual requirement, but will need to check) computer on your home network, allowing you to view and use media stored on the PC on your television systems. Think of it as an integration device that connects TV to music, images, live and recorded TV items on your Media Center PC. Note that Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 will also be released soon.

• Connects your Home Entertainment Center to a Windows Media Center PC through a Wireless-A, Wireless-G, or wired network
• Watch home or downloaded digital movies and browse your digital pictures on your television. Also watch, pause, and record live TV shows
• Listen to your digital music collection and Internet radio through your stereo system 
  Select entertainment from on-screen menus with the easy-to-use remote control

So, what's so cool about that? Well, this device converges the media stored on your PC with the rest of your AV equipment - It means you can store all that video, music and image data and information in one place (on the Media Center PC) and view or listen to it anywhere you like on your home network (such as on your TV, your home theater system, the stereo system, etc). Plans are that you'll even be able to add a Media Center Extender title to your XBox system and watch movies, view pictures, and listen to music there.

Bobsled you say? Yeah. Code name for the Microsoft project while it was under development.

Find out more about Windows XP Media Center here, and more about Media Center Extenders here.

(info via Charlie Kindel)

I know he didn't mean to (so I won't act all flattered or smug or anything), but Robert Scoble just sort of summed up the better part of my topic/category list for this-here-blog of mine, over on his blog...

I thought it would be interesting to compare his list of cool upcoming topics for the future to what's categorized or searchable right now on my site. So, I did just that and have added the links, below. Not a bad start, and it points out to me where I am falling shorter than I had realized in my content. Hey Robert, thanks for the copy.

“For the next 18 months, where are the business opportunities going to lie? Tablet PC. Bigtime. Windows Media Center. Gonna be a big deal. SmartPhones. Wanna watch how fast the Motorola MPX220 sells when it's released in the next few months? Xbox Live. You only need to say one number and everyone knows exactly the Xbox thing I'm talking about: "2." Visual Studio 2005. Tons of stuff coming there. MSN has a whole raft of things up their sleeves. And we haven't even started talking about BizTalk, SharePoint, Exchange, SQL Server, 64-bit Windows, SBS, CRM, LiveMeeting, and OneNote, among other things.”

It also gives me a gut-check on my existing blog categories. Here they are, with the ones that apply to this posting checked:

AudioBlogging	Blogging	Humor	IT Security
Mobile	Movies	Office 2003	OneNote
Personal Stories	Random Stuff	RSS Stuff	SharePoint
Tablet PC	Tech	Things that Suck	Windows Media Technology

On Channel 9 today, there's an interview with Jason Flaks, a Microsoft program manager on the Media Connects team. He demos some of the new Windows Media Connect technology that's set to come out in the future. This is very cool stuff - and it looks like it will be a big market - I know I will be on the wagon!

• UPDATE: Jason explains more about how WinMedia Connect works in a followup video

There's going to be a real market not only for users of these devices and technologies, but for businesses that truly understand them and can help the "common-folk" adopt and use them. Building a complex home media system like we're about to see hit the market is not a trivial task. Sure, it will get easier over time, but for a while a least, there will be a real need for professionals who can take the technology investments made by consumers and make them work really well.

I'm excited about the next wave of media devices and systems. It's been under-reported and under-estimated. All your media (pictures, audio, video) usable across multiple systems and devices. Stream the program recorded on your PC across the network and view it on the screen attached to your XBOX. Project your digital images on the 10-foot projection screen. Listen to your MP3s in any room, and automatically sync your music and video with your portable media device to take with you. Browse your media libraries on the MCE PC from your DVD player. The possibilities are nearly limitless.

My back has started to feel a lot better, off and on, over the past couple of days. I am not sure how long the relief will last, but I figure I will enjoy it while I can.

In that vain, I jumped on my motorcycle this evening (was a bit chilly!) and rode into town to return an Xbox game (RalliSport Challenge 2 - lots of fun). I've stayed off the motorcycle since my last spinal injections, to let my back heal and all that, but it actually feels pretty good to ride the bike and flex my lower back a bit. No long distances, and I will still take it easy, but it was a fun ride.

I think that beyond the physical stretching, the freedom one experiences on a motorcycle ride is something I need right now, as well. I've been feeling a little of that isolated-no-matter-where-I-am stuff, so it's good to finally be able to get back on there, even if just for a little while, and get out of my head.

Here's to hoping the weather warms up, and the back pain stays away.

Not a truly exciting name, but the idea certainly is interesting: A machine that plays XBOX, yet-to-be-seen XBOX 2, and PC titles, includes a full release of Windows, and will sell for around $600. They're calling it “XBOX Next PC” in focus group studies.

Sounds good to me. If you're talking XBOX and Windows, we're looking at MediaCenter PC version of Windows almost certainly, which means the hard drive(s) are for more than just games (video and audio too). The Media Center extenders and other devices will take a new leap with this. Since this is planned for after XBOX 2, I'd have to assume it based on Longhorn, so my imagination is running wild.

I've been part of these MSFT focus groups in the past (for other products, can't say more than that), and I can tell you one thing from those experiences: Microsoft is a company that will put serious money into dreaming big, and then even more money into building the things that look like they'll fly high.

Can't wait to see where this goes.

Some have speculated that Windows XP Media Center Edition was a dead horse (a stance I still don't fully comprehend), but then came the 2004 release, and now comes an announcement that they will be extending the Media Center reach to - get this - other devices, including (glad I bought one!) the XBOX. And hey - the Portable Media Centers have already got me sold. Wow - this is a big announcement, when you think about it.

The Windows Media Center Extender technologies and products were just announced at CES 2004. Arrival slated for later this year. Microsoft has a cool PDF brochure that gives a good picture of what's in store. It looks like you buy a remote and some software for the XBOX (in the case of that product) and off you go. Cool - maybe we can finally make use of that hard drive in there for real. Now if they would just put a web browser in the thing...

The other options - Extender TV's (can you say “Borg?”) and what looks to be an Extender appliance-type device, also look interesting.

One way or another this looks like the way of the future for television and multi-source media use. Whether Microsoft's technology is the defacto standard or not, this is likely indicative of where things are going.

Anyone have a link to Gates' keynote video at CES? I can't find it. That would be cool.

On a related (well, at least similar) note, Snapstream is stepping up their game. Nimble company there. Wow. My TiVo, as much as I love it, could - possibly - become a thing of the past, although they did announce HD support and other cool stuff for later this year.

Thoughts?