This is a test.
I got my autographed copy of "Good Days and Mad" from Dick DeBartolo:
Here's the autograph:
I was sitting at work today and my cell phone rang. I looked at the screen but all it displayed was "Unknown". I almost didn't answer it but I decided to go ahead and get it. I was shocked to hear Dick DeBartolo on the line! He was calling to thank me for my donation to Animal Haven and to ask me how I wanted the autograph signed on his "Good Days & Mad" book! That's right, I got a personal phone call from The Giz Wiz himself!
I couldn't be more excited! I listen to the "Daily Giz Wiz" podcast every weekday and I got to speak briefly with the man himself! The call was so much cooler than the autographed book.
In early January I received a notification that I had been picked as one of the winners in InDigital's Home Theater Giveaway. I was very excited. I couldn't wait to receive my prizes (I won Hahn's system).
It took a while but finally the FedEx trucks arrived with all my giant boxes. I got everything home and began the tedious task of hooking everything up. At first I was pretty happy. But the more I used the gear the more disappointed I became.
I discovered that my 52" Sharp Aquos TV has a pretty bad banding problem:
Next I have been having issues with the Samsung Blu-ray player not wanting to stay set at 1080p. It keeps switching back to 1080i. It's not that big a deal but by golly I have a 1080p set and I want to use it!
Now I find out that my Pioneer receiver has a glitch where it doesn't properly playback the audio on HiDef LPCM tracks via HDMI. The LFE (subwoofer) channel's volume is dropped by about 10dB. There is a firmware update available but I will have to contact Pioneer and it will have to be shipped to them to perform the upgrade.
What's the deal? These are three pretty expensive pieces of equipment. If I had actually paid for them I would be furious. Instead I'm just a bit disappointed. I'm not even sure if I can get the TV replaced or the receiver updated for free since I didn't actually buy them. I'm waiting to hear back on that.
Anyway, I just wanted to vent about that. I am happy to have won the system I just wish these manufacturers would do a better job at QA. Especially on items that cost over a thousand dollars.
Oh, and if I can't get them taken care of I will still have to pay taxes on everything as if it was worth new retail price.
Today is a very sad day, indeed. Former TechTV labrat and CNET Senior Editor James Kim was found dead in Oregon today. I feel like I've lost a friend. I always enjoyed his segments on TechTV and his video reviews on CNET. It's weird how you feel like you know someone you never even met.
Thankfully his wife and two small daughers were found alive on Monday.
I'm truly choked up about this.
I bought gas today for $1.96/gallon. I was able to fill up my car for under $20.00! I'm liking this a lot.
I received my new 30GB 5.5 generation iPod one week ago today and I thought I'd post some thoughts about it.
First of all it feels a lot smaller than I had expected it to. I have a 20GB 4th generation iPod and this new one seems so much smaller. It's the same height and width but is noticeably slimmer.
The screen is just beautiful. The colors and clarity are fantastic. However, when I'm listening to podcasts in my car I can't just glance down and see how much time is left because when the back-light turns off it's very difficult to read the screen. This isn't a problem with my 4G black and white unit.
I "discovered" an already well known flaw in the unit. I was driving in my car, listening to a podcast, when out of the blue the volume on my iPod shot INSTANTLY UP TO FULL LOUDNESS! Right when this happened my cell phone began ringing. It turns out that GSM phones somehow interfere with the 5G iPod's click wheel. On mine the volume shoots up during the ring but then jumps around erratically during the call. The phone doesn't even have to be that close to the iPod. If the Hold switch is turned on this strange behavior doesn't happen.
My favorite feature of the new iPods is their gapless playback. I always hated listening to Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon", or any live album, and hearing that slight pause between tracks. Now the songs just flow right into each other the way they were intended. It works quite well and it's about time they added this feature.
I don't like the fact that I can't use my existing Griffin iTrip on the new iPod. I ended up buying the XtremeMac AirPlay 2 for about $30.00. It works fine but it sticks out a bit too much from the bottom of the iPod, which isn't necessarily Apple's fault but I wish they hadn't changed the design so that older accessories don't work anymore.
It sounds like I mostly have negative things to say about the new iPod but that doesn't reflect my overall impression of it. I really love it and it was totally worth $249.00. I expect that this price point will push a lot more people into buying one. I think the iTunes movie prices are a bit too steep but I did buy the game "Bejeweled". It's decent but the controls take a little getting used to.
What are your personal memories of September 11th?
I arrived at the office that morning a few minutes before 8:00 AM, Central Time. When I walked in the door my uncle (who's also my boss) called me into his office exclaiming that a plane had just hit the World Trade Center. I went in and watched it on TV believing, at that time, that it was just a terrible accident. Then another plane hit the other tower and we all knew it was an attack. We all pretty much stayed in my uncle's office all day glued to the television.
I remember when the first tower fell, the image on the set was a pretty close-up shot and I just saw that all the smoke appeared to start moving downward. I was trying to figure out what was happening and then when the camera pulled back I saw that it just wasn't there anymore. I was completely horrified. I couldn't believe this was actually happening here.
