Scifi & Gadgets » Gadgets

Interview: JABstone founder Joe Bureau

icesnake — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 13:05:24 +0000

Due to a recent stroke in the family, I recently was motivated to look for a method of helping non-verbal people communicate without making everyone around them learn sign language, or play charades. There are a number of apps available for smartphones and tablets, notably the iPad and the Android platform. After comparing features (and prices), I settled on a AAC (Augmentive and Alternative Communication) app for Android called JABtalk (which I plan to review here also, Real Soon Now ™). I was able to reach the developer, Joe Bureau, directly and he graciously consented to an interview.

Without further ado, here’s Joe:

Q. Tell us about yourself and your company.

A. My name is Joe Bureau. I’m a software engineer living in the Seattle WA area. I’ve been working in the software industry for the last 15 years working primarily with early-stage startups. In 2011, my wife and I started a software company called JABstone, which specializes in speech communication technology for Android. Our first product is an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) application called JABtalk. We currently have over 20,000 active users in over 70 countries around the world. Our website is www.jabstone.com.

Q. What motivated you to start developing smartphone apps?

A. I first started developing smartphone apps for one of the early-stage startups I was working for in 2010. My initial experience was writing a location based application for the iPhone. I then ported that application to Android. Prior to building smartphone apps I spent a lot of time doing java development so stepping into the Android world was very straight forward. My experience with iPhone development was much more challenging since I had to learn a new language (objective C), new development tools (xCode), and was working on an unfamiliar operating system (Mac OS).

Q. Where did you get the idea for JABtalk?

A. In 2009, my wife and I took our five year old son, Wyatt, to a speech communication evaluation center to be evaluated for a speech communication device. Wyatt has Down Syndrome and struggles with verbal communication. The speech center we visited had an array of speech communication devices ranging from $8000 dynavox machines to $600 iPads. We tried several of the top communication apps for the iPad and spent a couple months evaluating the $8000 dynavox. After witnessing our son’s frustration trying to learn the various speech systems, it became clear he needed something much easier and intuitive to use. Having spent the previous year building iOS and Android applications, I knew I could build an app tailored to his specific needs that would give him a much better chance of communicating with us without the frustration he was experiencing with the other AAC applications he had been trying. Our son’s need for an easy to use speech communication device was the driving factor that led to the development of JABtalk.

Q. Why did you choose Android instead of iOS?

A. I get this question often. When we first started JABstone, our goal was to provide the most affordable speech communication app available. We also believed that a child needing a communication device should have access to the device at all times. This means taking it to school, to the playground, and anywhere else they may need it to communicate. At the time, the leading AAC app on the market was only available on the iPad and was $200. By the time a person purchased an iPad plus the application, they were looking at a minimum investment of $800. The idea of sending Wyatt to school with an $800 piece of fancy technology didn’t seem like a wise strategy. Being involved in the technology industry, I knew the market would soon be flooded with inexpensive Android tablets and would be a much more practical solution for the problem we were trying to solve. From my own software development experience, I also knew developing an application for Android would be much faster and cheaper than it would be for iOS. As of today, over 70% of JABtalk users are running the app on devices that cost less than $200 so I think Android was the right decision for our particular needs and goals.

Q. How long was the development process for JABtalk from idea to Google Play and Amazon’s App Store?

A. Building software is a very iterative process. The first version was pretty basic and only offered a few fundamental features like importing a picture and audio files from an SDCard. The first version probably took a month of mostly weekends to create and publish to the Google Play store. During 2011, we released 11 updates to JABtalk and now have dozens of features as listed on our website. If you were to ask how many hours have been spent working on JABtalk over the last year, it would probably be a couple hundred hours.

Q. What are the challenges of developing for the Android platform?

A. There are two main challenges with Android in my opinion. The first challenge is the fragmentation of Android versions available in the marketplace. Apple has the advantage of controlling what versions of iOS are in use by automatically pushing new versions of the operating system to iOS devices. Android users are at the mercy of device manufacturers or cellular carriers to send them updates. Unfortunately, making sure users have the latest and greatest version of Android isn’t always a priority or even in the financial interests of cellular carriers or device manufacturers. If you want your app to be available to the largest number of users, you have to write your app in a way that is backward compatible with versions of Android that may be 2 or 3 years old. This means you can’t take advantage of the latest Android features. For example, one of the features I want to provide JABtalk users is the ability to control the speed of a scrolling window. The API to add that functionality is only available in Android 3.0 and higher. Since more than 70% of JABtalk users are running Android 2.3, I can’t offer that feature unless I want to create a different version of JABtalk specifically for Android 3.0 or greater.

The second challenge developing for Android is the number of Android devices in the market that look and work differently. For example, the Nook Tablet, Kindle Fire, and Samsung Galaxy all run a flavor of Android but all look radically different from each other and have different hardware capabilities. Since each device has different capabilities, JABtalk has to detect the hardware capabilities of each device and suppress or enable certain features on the fly. While this isn’t a challenge from a technical perspective, trying to describe the features and capabilities of JABtalk can get complicated since the features available are completely dependent on the capabilities of each Android device. The wide variety of devices and capabilities can make reproducing and debugging a problem very challenging as well.

Q. If you had known all that before starting on JABtalk, what would you have done differently?

A. I’m not sure I would have changed anything if starting over. I still believe Android is the best platform for our particular needs and goals. Android owns 50% of the smartphone market now and I personally believe that trend is going to continue going upward. The iPad currently dominates tablets, but it’s hard for me to believe Android won’t overtake the tablet market as well over the next few years unless Microsoft can pull a rabbit out of their hat with Windows 8.

From a development perspective, I wish there were one set of tools or a specific technology available to allow you to create truly native applications for all platforms. If you want to create an application today that performs well and can take full advantage of Android or iOS features, you need to use tools and frameworks unique to each platform. That means if you want to write native Android applications, you’re typically going to use Java for your programming language and Eclipse or IntelliJ for your development environment. If you’re writing a native iOS app, you’re going to use objective C for your programming language and Xcode for your development environment. If you’re writing a native Windows phone application, you’re going to use a C# for your programming language and Visual Studio for your development environment. There are tools available today, like PhoneGap, that do a pretty good job of providing a cross platform framework using web technologies, but since no native user interface widgets are used, the resulting app look more like web app than a native Android or iOS app.

Q. What advice would you give to someone wanting to develop Android apps?

A. The first question they should ask is if the app really needs to be an Android app. In many cases, an app could just as easily be implemented as a web app optimized for smartphone sized screens and accessed via a web browser. If the app doesn’t need to leverage native smartphone features (i.e. camera, microphone, GPS, etc…) and doesn’t need to have a native look and feel, it may make more sense to build a smartphone optimized web app instead. If the obvious choice is to implement your software as an Android app, visit the Android developer website http://developer.android.com so you can get the free development tools necessary to get started and begin learning best practices for designing your app http://developer.android.com/design. I would also caution people away from using third party tools like Adobe Air or Mono for Android when getting started. It’s important to acquire strong fundamental skills when learning any new technology so you fully understand what you are doing and can troubleshoot problem when they arise. Once you understand a new technology and are competent with the native tools provided, using third party tools to speed up development isn’t as much of a concern.

Q. Anything else you’d like to say to our readers?

A. If you know anyone who could benefit from a free speech communication application, please direct them to www.jabstone.com.

Streaming your Own Media at Home

icesnake — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 17:37:32 +0000

You’ve cut the cable and now you want to be able to watch videos, listen to music, and look at the (thousands!) of digital photos you’ve taken; but you (or your spouse) don’t want that “big, noisy, ugly computer” in the living room, where your biggest HDTV is.

Fear not, my friend! If you already have a Roku digital media player and a network at home (wired or wireless; I prefer wired, but not everyone has the luxury of being able to poke cables through the walls and floors), you’re already three-quarters of the way to streaming your own movies, music, and photos. There are other ways, of course, but this is definitely the least expensive option; Roku players start at around US$50, and the most expensive streaming option we’re going to talk about here is US$15. You can’t buy a general-purpose PC that can play steaming video well for US$65, and even a wireless remote by itself would cost around half of that, so this is the most cost-effective solution I have found.

What you need:

The afore-mentioned Roku player
A wired or wireless home network.
A computer that will act as the server for your streaming needs. More on that below.
The server software.
The client-side app for the Roku.
Software for converting files to the necessary format, if they aren’t already in that format.
An account at the Roku Web site (which is free).

Preparing your home media center:

While it’s true that Microsoft has a popular Windows Media Center package, the biggest problem with it is cost (you have to either buy a new PC with Windows installed, or spend US$90 or more to get Windows). Other issues are the noise and power requirements (which translates into unwanted heat in the summer), and that bulky computer. So, the first thing you need to do is get the Roku player set up and connected to your TV and network (and presumably the Internet; that was why you got a Roku in the first place, right?).

Next, select the home PC you’re going to use as your media server. This does not have to be dedicated solely to the purpose, but it’s not a good plan to have someone playing games on the PC while you’re trying to stream video from it. If you have only one PC, and it’s running Windows XP or Windows 7, it will work. Again, if it’s going to be a shared-use PC, plan accordingly, because most games will cause degraded streaming. Right now, just about the least-expensive PC you can buy with Windows 7 (or Windows Home Server) will be more than sufficient for your server, so if your budget allows, you probably ought to consider it. Whatever you decide, we’re going to call this PC your “server” from now on.

Make sure the server is set up in a place with adequate ventilation (to prevent overheating) and where any noise it makes won’t bother you when you’re watching the TV. Also make sure it has a reliable connection to your network. This is critical to the success of your home media enjoyment; if you can use a wired connection to your router, it is your best choice.

Now you’re ready to decide which server-client system you want to use. Since you can always change your mind, it might be a good idea to start with the least-expensive (e.g., free) choice and make sure everything is functional before you spend any more of your hard-earned cash (even if it’s only 99 cents).

The Server Options: In order of cost we have three tested choices.

MyMedia for Roku is freeware.
roConnect is freeware, but the Roku client app will cost you 99 cents. There is also an Android app available. If you want to stream to an Android device without hassle, this is really your only choice.
Roksbox is $15. There is a 30-day free trial period.

Putting it all together: I’m going to address only the video streaming in this article, but please be aware that all three solutions also support audio streaming as well as still pictures.

First we’ll talk about the free system, MyMedia. The detailed instructions are linked above, but here’s the short version:

Install the private channel on your Roku.
Register (for free) the app that you just installed.
Download and install the server-side software on the PC you’ve chosen for that purpose.

Because the server is written in the Python language, it’s not going to be simple to run as a service (a “service” in Windows runs in the background without needing to have any desktop windows open). Thus you may want to set up a special user account on your server, if it’s not dedicated to being a server, use that account to run the MyMedia server, and then “switch user” to a different account, to prevent someone from accidentally closing the server window.

You will have to configure the server and client to “talk to” each other; all those instructions are on the MyMedia pages.

Because MyMedia is freeware, it’s the best way to be sure your network is going to support streaming video; it won’t cost anything that you haven’t already spent, except some of your time. This is the client/server combination I used for over a year with satisfactory results. If you try it and you are happy with it, feel free to stop reading here.

Next up: roConnect

roConnect has a slick setup program that installs everything you need on the server in one bundle. If you’ve looked at the roConnect Web site, you can see that the developer has a well-developed sense of pleasing design, and the roConnect interface is undeniably pretty. Everything (other than file conversion software) is integrated into the Web-based front end to the package, and when it works, it works smoothly. There’s an active community of users who try to help each other out when things don’t go right, as well. For roConnect, you will follow these steps:

Download the installation package from the roConnect Web site.
Install it on your server.
Add the roConnect app on your Roku. This will cost you 99 cents. Come on, be a sport!
Run the Web interface either directly on your server, or from another computer on your network, and configure the server (so it can find your media).
Run the Web interface and “connect” the Roku.
Index your media.

Because roConnect has built-in IMdB integration, it can find a great deal of information for each video, if that video is named properly and if it’s listed at IMdB. The developer recommends running with IMdB auto-lookups turned off, however, and my experience agrees; you’re better off to “edit” each video’s info after indexing. roConnect will still perform the IMdB lookup, but it won’t hang up your indexing when a video can’t be found on IMdB.

When I first installed roConnect it was on version 1.2 and I had to fiddle around a bit to get it working. The client end is a lot more “elegant” than MyMedia’s rather Spartan look, closely matching the Netflix look on the Roku. Unfortunately, I was never able to get the current version (2.0 as of this writing) to index completely. Not everyone is having problems with it, though, and the nice Web interface and Android app are big pluses, so you should still consider roConnect.

My final choice: Roksbox

The first thing you’ll do here is add the Roksbox private channel. Instructions are provided in the Roksbox tutorial. It won’t cost anything immediately because you have the free 30-day trial period.
Next, you’ll choose and install a Web server package, and configure it for use with Roksbox. This is a lot easier than it sounds. Instructions are provided for several Windows server packages, Mac OS X, Linux, and two ready-built NAS systems. I recommend using Apache on Windows, mostly because it can be easily installed to run as a service, and configuration is in plain text so you can easily see what you’ve done. I am, of course, assuming you’re not using a USB drive plugged right into the Roku (which Roksbox supports).
Decide how you’re going to index your files. Roksbox lets you choose either a “regular” file system or an XML file. I tried both ways, and for my money, the simple file system is better; I had 969 video files when running my tests, and the XML would have to be regenerated every time I added another one. That’s too much work.
Configure your Roku client app to tell it where the server is.

At this point, you’re ready to start streaming video, music, and photos.

Why I settled on Roksbox in the end:

If you go to the Roksbox Web site, you’ll find detailed instructions for setup of the server, and for creating beautiful “movie sheets” using the freeware program Thumbgen. While this part can be time-consuming, the end result is very worthwhile on the Roku. Here’s a sample sheet, using the default template (I actually use a different template; you’ll find links to download other templates both at the Roksbox site and on the Thumbgen site):

[Click to Enlarge]

Summary:

You can stream your media for free (MyMedia), for very little (roConnect), or for only a little more (Roksbox), and keep that annoying PC noise out of your TV viewing area. You can even stream to (and from) Android devices without a lot of hassle, in addition to the Roku.

The age of streaming home video is here. Don’t be left out.

Netflix killed by the MPAA: Where do we go now?

icesnake — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 16:08:05 +0000

By this time you probably know that Netflix has been forced to increase their prices by sixty percent in order to remain profitable after Hollywood decided to kill the golden goose (e.g., jack up the prices that Netflix has to pay for streaming movies and rental DVDs). My wife is adamant that we’re going to cancel our Netflix subscription altogether because of this. I don’t have to live with Netflix, so I’ll live without them.

But what will replace our instant-gratification streaming movies and cheap DVD rentals?

Well, the first thing that comes to mind is that Blockbuster is not an option; they’ve just closed the local store in my home town, and I don’t trust them to stay in business long enough to deliver any streaming video after they get my money, so buh-bye Blockbuster, it’s been real.

What about Hulu Plus? Nah. One basic rule: Never pay to watch commercials (cable or satellite doesn’t count, you’re paying them for signal, not content). Besides, even the most recent experience I’ve had with Hulu tells me that they don’t understand how to design a streaming video client that works well on anything less than a Cray, or a HAL 9000.

So what else is out there?

The free version of Hulu. Not my first choice, but let’s just get it out of the way. Not available for Roku (yet). Works (for some values of “works”) on PCs.
Redbox for DVDs, although they’ve had to increase prices, too, from 99 cents to $1.15 per night.
A quick look at Amazon Video On Demand shows me that they have most of what I’d be willing to pay for, and mostly at reasonable rates. In fact, Amazon Prime members don’t pay extra for quite a few of the shows and movies I’d be interested in seeing. Amazon Prime works out to about $6.58 per month (it’s quoted as “$79/year”), so that’s even less than the Netflix streaming-only option under the new price structure, at $7.99/month. Supports Roku and PC.
E-Z-Takes offers both sale and rental of “hard to find” video, both streaming and downloadable (which can then be burned to DVD).
Crackle.com (mentioned here previously) has movies, TV, and original content for free (ad-supported, with considerably fewer ads than prime-time TV). They have a new Android app, too, in addition to the PC and Roku options.
First on Mars has a pretty good line-up of broadcast TV series. PC only as near as I can tell.
eclipse.tv works with Google Chrome, Firefox, Google TV, and Ubuntu to bring you streaming video.
YouTube Movies offers full-length videos on a pay-per-view basis, including free and 99 cent rentals.
Boxee either as a downloaded and installed program on your Mac, PC, or Linux system, or the Boxee Box. This gives you centralized access to all sorts of streaming video as well as local content (on your hard drive or local area network).

So, I will miss Netflix, but not that much. It’s not like there’s a whole lot of content coming out of Hollywood that’s worth watching, anyhow.

New Gadgets from D-Link

icesnake — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 17:03:34 +0000

D-Link has a couple of new gadgets out now that are great for those who have (or who plan to have) a Home Theater PC.

First up, announced in May 2011, is the DAP-1513 dual-band wireless-N bridge, or “wi-fi bridge” to those of us who want to say what it is before lunch is over. A wireless bridge is the opposite end of the wireless connection from your wireless router (aka “access point” or “WAP”) and allows you to connect a network device (or in this case, up to four devices) to your wireless network even though the device doesn’t have compatible built-in wireless capability. For example, you could use the DAP-1513 to connect your HTPC, a game console, and two other devices using either the “standard” 2.4GHz band or the higher-bandwidth 5GHz band.

According to the press release,

“The Wireless N Dual Band MediaBridge allows consumers to quickly and easily expand their home wireless networks to connect PCs, game consoles, media players, and more without running any messy cables,” says Daniel Kelley, associate vice president of consumer marketing, D-Link North America. “And, dual-band connectivity makes it ideal for streaming HD video content, whether you’re watching your favorite shows or battling with friends in an online game.”

The DAP-1513 offers four Fast Ethernet 10/100 ports for fast wired connectivity, supports WPA™ and WPA2® security standards and features Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) for push-button security and top-of-the-line encryption from possible Internet threats. And with 24-hour support for basic installation available seven days a week, it’s never been easier to expand a home network.

The DAP 1513 has a suggested retail price of $119.99 (U.S.) and $99.99 (Canada) and is discounted by many online retailers such as Amazon.

Next we have the Boxee Remote (DSM-22), announced today and already available at a 20 percent discount from Amazon. This is the same remote shipped with the Boxee Box (also made by D-link), with buttons on one side designed specifically to integrate with the Boxee home media center/home theater software, and a full QWERTY keyboard on the flip side. Anyone who’s ever tried to use an HTPC without a full keyboard will tell you it’s no picnic.

D-Link says, “the Boxee Remote Control enables easy access to the search and social capabilities of the Boxee software on PC or Mac. Allowing users to enjoy and share their favorite video-on-demand service through their social networks, the Boxee Remote Control lets anyone quickly and easily input URLs and account information for their favorite websites. In addition, unlike infrared TV remotes, the Boxee Remote Control uses RF signals via an included nano-sized USB adapter so consumers never have to worry about pointing the remote at the computer.”

MSRP on the Boxee Remote is $49.99 – see above for discount information.

And the Beat(down) Goes On: Getting Ripped Off in HDMI

icesnake — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 22:09:33 +0000

Back in March of this year (2011), an electronics firm in Australia took the unprecedented step of letting consumers know that people who were paying more than AUS$10 (which is also $10 US, near enough) were getting ripped off. Kogan posted an offer on their blog to provide a free HDMI cable to anyone who bought an HDTV at JB Hi-Fi up until 31 March.

The Kogan blog explains in simple terms why the high-priced HDMI cables are a rip-off, and I’ll repeat it here: HDMI signals are digital. That means it’s an all-or-nothing affair; unlike composite video and S-video, if you get any signal at all over HDMI, then you have all there is. There’s no such thing as “HMDI signal quality” because if the TV can detect the signal, then it can act on the signal, and there’s no noise (seen as “snow” and distortion on video, and heard as “hiss,” “hum,” and distortion in audio) like there is on an analog cable.

I’ll go so far as to say that anyone who tries to sell you a “premium quality” HDMI cable is trying to steal from you because he thinks you’re too stupid to know you’re being robbed.

Now The Inquirer has reported that Kogan has challenged a couple of large UK retailers to demonstrate a difference in cables in side-by-side “A/B” comparisons. Naturally, the retailers (who make as much as a 1000% markup on the cables) have declined.

Personally, I get my HDMI cables from Amazon. Shop carefully; I paid 99 cents for two cables, and got free shipping.

Build your own Chromebook for cheap

icesnake — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 21:21:38 +0000

Looking for a Chromebook so you can cut your dependency on expensive commercial software? Well, I’ve got good news, and bad news. The good news is that you can buy one now. The bad news is that they start at $350 and go up. If you’re not absolutely sure that a Chromebook will do what you need, that’s a lot of money to drop on an experiment.

So, what to do? Build your own! The Chrome OS has a very small hardware resource requirement, which I have proven by installing it on an ancient Dell Latitude CSx. This little machine has no optical (CD/DVD) drive at all, a 500MHz CPU, and only 256 megs of RAM. It has no built-in wireless, not even an Ethernet port, so I am using PCMCIA cards for that. I replaced the hard drive with a CompactFlash adapter and a 16GB CF card from Amazon, and there’s still plenty of room. It won’t boot from USB, so I actually installed the OS on another, newer Dell laptop and moved my home-made SSD into the antique. It works!

Now, I’m not going to be watching live video due to the hardware limits imposed by chipping my own Chromebook out of granite (I think the frame rate is around 6fps on YouTube) but it proves that Chrome does meet my needs, so I can graduate to better hardware when the mood (and my budget) takes me.

So, how would you make your own? Start by prowling the local pawn shops and find a reasonably-capable laptop or netbook. Be sure to check prices online before paying for it, most pawn dealers have a rather vague notion of the current value of a computer. Make the pawn dealer demo it for you, checking that the optical drive (if any) works, and that the wireless and Ethernet ports are functional (again, if any). Make very sure it can boot from the optical drive or USB! Look for cracks or blemishes on the case, and worn keytops; you can use those to bring the price down if you like to haggle.

If the machine you picked doesn’t have Ethernet, or Wi-fi, or 3G (most won’t have 3G), you’ll need to get appropriate card(s) for that. It’s best to get the 3G card from your cell provider anyway. I didn’t bother to get one, because I have no intention of paying for a data plan. If there’s no Ethernet and no wi-fi where ever I go, there’s nothing I need to see on the Web right then.

Once you find suitable hardware, you’ll need to download either Chrome OS (the “official” Chrome) or Chromium OS (a linux-based community-supported derivitive). Follow the directions on the download page to create a bootable CD or bootable USB flash drive. By the way, I went with Chrome OS on my little antique, but I have made a bootable SDcard with Chromium on it and run it on newer hardware; it’s a lot prettier but still contains the same heart. Be sure to poke around on the Web page so that you know what the default username and password are!

Boot your pawn-shop-rescue laptop from the disk or USB drive you just made. If all goes well, you’ll be looking at the Chrome/Chromium desktop in a minute or so. Play with it a little. When you’ve decided you want to install it (it will boot faster that way), follow the directions here for Chrome OS or here for Chromium OS. After you install and reboot, you can log in using your Google account (usually somename@gmail.com but in the UK and parts of Europe it might be somename@googlemail.com or somename@google.com).

Yes, it really is that easy! And if you are good haggler, you might have gotten that laptop for as little as $150, or even less! Mine cost $60 but it is admittedly pretty old.

Oh, about that home-made SSD; you’ll need to know first if your laptop has an IDE (aka “ATA”) hard drive, or a SATA hard drive. See pics below. There’s a DIY SSD guide here. After you check that out, go to Amazon.com and search for “CF to sata adapter” or “CF to IDE adapter” and you should be able to find the adapter for under ten bucks. If your laptop is IDE, be sure to get the 44-pin adapter; the 40-pin jobs are for desktop systems and won’t fit. You can use any fairly recent CF card with at least 2 GB capacity. I found that the Kodak card I have won’t work, it can’t be made bootable, but all of my SanDisks work. Oh, and generally you’ll want to avoid the two-card adapters; they won’t fit into some of the modern narrow drive bays, because they are too thick. Once you assemble to card to the adapter, make sure it’s insulated (some don’t come that way, but thin plastic as found in those annoying clear plastic clamshell cases can be easily cut to fit with ordinary scissors), and substitute it in your laptop. Then go back and reinstall ChromeOS.

Enjoy your new, budget Chromebook!

IDE Adapter:

SATA Adapter:

Make your own Ringtones

icesnake — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 23:57:03 +0000

Is it just me, or does anyone else wonder why a complete MP3 file costs 99 cents, but the 15-to-30-second ringtone clipped out of the middle of it costs $1.99 or more?

My advice is don’t buy ringtones. Period. Ever. That doesn’t mean you can’t have ringtones – just don’t buy them. You can make your own easily, and (if you have a method of connecting your phone to your PC or Mac, like Bluetooth or a USB cable) upload them straight to the phone (bypassing the extra charge for emailing them to your phone). You will need some free software tools, and a CD or MP3 or AAC file of the audio you want to make into a ringtone.

Here’s how:

Use Audacity to make MP3 ringtones: Follow the Mr. Bass guide
or use Easy Ringtone Editor for Windows
or Chop Shop for OSX
and Pazera Converter Suite if you need iPhone-type files.

Note that the Pazera Suite is good for video conversion, too; I use it to make MP4 videos out of my AVI videos so I can watch them on my Roku box using MyMedia.

Once you’ve created your ringtone(s) use BitPim to get it onto your phone. This can be a fairly time-intensive part of the project, so if you plan to make several ringtones, I would make one, upload it to the phone to make sure the settings are right, then make all the rest and upload them all at once. So far I have about 97 custom ringtones on my LG VX8350R.

Yes, it really is that simple.

Are Bloom Boxes our ‘Green Energy’ Solution?

Contrapaul — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:00:19 +0000

Bloom Energy unveiled the “Bloom Box” last week, also called the Bloom Energy Server. The box is around the size of a parking space, and each one can power a 30,000 sq. foot office building, or 100 average US homes. Ebay and Google have already been using this technology to power some of their buildings and servers, and several other companies, such as Coca-Cola, Walmart, and Staples have also announced partnership with Bloom. At their press conference, Arnold Swarzenegger and Colin Powell spoke, as well as the CEO’s of several of the companies partnering with Bloom.

The really cool thing about these boxes is that they don’t have to be so big. Their power comes from 25kw fuel cells, which are combined to form a 1kw stack. This stack can power a full house, and is smaller than a toaster. Stacks can be added together to form a 25kw module, and 4 of those can be added together to create 1 100kw energy server. Imagine paying a one-time fee for energy, and not ever having to worry about the grid going down. Currently the price is a little too high to be extremely attractive, with estimates for a Stack sitting around $3000, and a server at $700-800,000. Bloom says that after a 3-5 year period, the price will be paid back, assuming a fixed energy cost.

The CEO of Bloom Energy puts the life of the boxes at around 10 years, but the CEO of eBay has stated that since installing the boxes late last year, they have saved $100,000 in electricity bills. At this point that puts the boxes in a good position for large businesses, but the price is still high for everyone else. Like everything though, it can be expected to go down in the near future, as the power output goes up. Read more about the Server at its Wikipedia entry, and tell me what you think. Are Bloom Boxes going to be as big a deal as people think they’ll be?

“Fix” your Windows 7 laptop battery problem

icesnake — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:45:39 +0000

By this time, I am sure everyone has heard about the problems with Windows 7 “destroying” laptop batteries. I’m not going to go into the truth-or-fiction aspect, and I’m not interested in assigning blame; I just want to explain what you can do to fix it if you have this problem.

First, take a look at the Spanish language version of the fix. I suggest you open it in a new tab.

Now, here’s the English translation, courtesy of Google:

Spanish to English translation

Problems with laptop battery Windows 7: workaround
Many users of Windows 7 are taking warnings related to problems with their laptop battery when in fact there is no problem.
Microsoft is currently investigating this issue with hardware manufacturers. Apparently the problem is related to the BIOS and look for an immediate update of firmware.

Consider replacing your battery “Consider replacing your battery” is the annoying error message that appears frequently in Windows 7.

As Microsoft releases the final solution for this error, then a temporary solution is to disable the error:

- Open the Control Panel Device Manager or write in the search box on the Start menu
- Select the Device Manager
- Expand and select Battery with Battery control method for ACPI Microsoft
- Right click and select Disable

And there you have it!

Preview: Chinese PSP Go Knockoff

icesnake — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 16:29:39 +0000

The Chinese are at it again, this time with a knockoff of the new PSP Go. This one plays 16-bit NES titles, MP3s, and AVIs, and if you want to see what it looks like “up close,” go down to your local game store and look at Sony’s PSP Go. Except for the color and the logos, it’s identical.

: The PSP Faux

For under a C-note, it’s a pretty good deal. You can check it out here.

Review: Roku Player

icesnake — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 18:17:12 +0000

Recently, the owners of a site I do webmastering for decided to give me a bonus; it was exactly enough for me to order the Roku Player, which I’ve been interested in for quite a while.

So off I went to the Amazon.com Web site, and placed my order, using PayPal as my preferred method of payment. Two weeks passed. No Roku. No email saying the order was delayed. No tracking number. Nada. Zip Zilch. And Amazon (mercifully) had not charged my PayPal account. A few emails back and forth, and I figured out that Amazon had totally dropped the ball on this order; somehow, it fell through the cracks, and Roku was never notified that I wanted their product. So, I canceled the Amazon order, and ordered direct from Roku (for exactly the same price, and the same shipping). Three days later, a smallish purple package arrived; not much thicker than a standard desktop encyclopedia (the dead-tree kind, not the desktop PC kind), it was lightweight and said “Roku” in large white letters.

I eagerly opened the box, of course. Now, I am not the kind of guy who thinks an “unboxing” is a major event (I rank it right up there with the “unbagging” of the groceries), so I didn’t bother to take pics of that. The contents, though, are pretty interesting. the most important ones have photos here.

First, here’s the Roku Player, the remote for the Roku Player, and a standard sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 printer paper for size comparison, sitting on a 1-inch square grid (my wife’s sewing pattern guide, if you must know).

Roku with Remote

As you can see, the Player is a mere five inches square, give or take a quarter-inch. Here you can see the back panel, with the plethora of connectors, and note that the Player is only about 2 1/2 inches thick. This is a very tiny device!

Roku Back Panel

And the front panel:

Roku Front Panel

Note that there is no power switch whatsoever. I’ll talk about that more shortly. I neglected to take pics of the power supply, but it’s a tiny “wall-wart” style unit, about the same as the one I use for charging my cell phone. Here’s a pic of it from the Roku Web site (you can buy replacements for the power supply and the remote for only about ten bucks each):

Roku Power Supply

The player comes with the usual red/white/yellow RCA cables for lowest-possible-video-quality connections. I had purchased an HDMI cable in a separate order from Amazon, which they managed to handle correctly; actually, I got two cables, at 1 cent each, and $6.98 shipping for the two of them together, so I have an extra. There is also a fold-out “Getting Started” guide. The Web site also has a more detailed User Guide. Anyhow, I finished getting everything out of the box except the superfluous RCA cables, hooked everything up (power, cat5e network cable, and HDMI to the TV), turned on the TV, and was rewarded with a fast system software update to the Roku box. At some point, I think it asked me if I was going to use a wired or wireless connection (Wifi is built in, but I prefer my high-speed wired network). Anyhow, after the software update, the player rebooted itself, and asked what kind of TV I have – HDTV, old-school 4:3, or 16:9 anamorphic, if your widescreen TV doesn’t support 720p video. This can be changed later if you get a new TV, of course.

Finally, you’ll be asked which service you want to use. Right now (September 2009), Netflix Watch Instantly, Amazon Video on Demand, and MLB.com are supported. When more services are added, they’ll show up after your automatic software update. I chose Netflix, because while I have an Amazon account, I never use the VOD option; and I am about as interested in MLB.com as I am in having my chest waxed.

The first question you’ll be asked after selecting your service boils down to, “do you already have an account, or do you want to open a trial account?” I have a Netflix account, so a code was generated which I had to put into a Web page using my PC. Simple enough, I have a PC in the entertainment center; here is a pic showing the Roku Player, a DVD clamshell case for size comparison, and the humongous Dell PC all together:

Roku, DVD case, and Dell PC

By the time I had the TV switched back to the Roku Player, it was showing my Netflix Watch Instantly queue. I selected an episode of “The IT Crowd,” waited a couple of seconds while Netflix determined my Internet connection quality (which vastly exceeds the 4 Mbps required for HD streaming; I have 20 Mbps FiOS), and was enjoying a great HD comedy series almost immediately. Even better, the Roku Player remembers where you are in the queue, so if you are watching a series, you can come back to the next episode the next time you feel like watching it; no need to scroll through the queue if you haven’t watched something else in the same queue in the meantime.

Now, about that no power switch thing: The Roku Player goes into deep sleep mode after a few minutes of no activity. The power light (the only visible sign of life on the front panel) goes off. Even at the maximum possible power draw from the wall-wart, it’s under 7 watts, so you’re not going to save a lot, but it’s nice to know that Roku is as “green” as humanly possible.

Bottom line: If you have a good, solid, fast Internet connection, and your monthly download bandwidth is uncapped, and you want great HDTV streaming video, the Roku Player is a great piece of equipment. For me, it’s the best hundred bucks I’ve ever spent on an electronic entertainment device.

UPDATE: 1 December 2009
Last month, Roku added 10 more channels to the available lineup. You can read about them at Roku’s site. However, that’s not what I want to talk about now. Right now, I feel I should give you two warnings: First warning: Roku’s tech support is pathetically bad. As is normal for anything tech-related nowadays, the “technicians” are very obviously in India; that would be OK, if they were actually competent to answer questions, but they are not. Email support is pretty much non-existent; they never actually address any questions you ask them. The toll-free support line is simply some guy reading a script (also, unfortunately, quite normal in the industry), which is bad enough, but even after you tell him you have already done several of the obvious steps, like disconnecting the power, waiting a few minutes, and reconnecting it, he will read that question off the script and ask you again. I’ve called several times, and this is not just one guy; apparently it is company policy to assume all customers are liars and idiots. And that brings me to the Second Warning: Under no circumstances should you give an email address to Roku if you don’t want spam at that address. Mind you, it’s not a lot of spam, but Roku is now trying to sell me the exact same box I already have, via “email marketing” (also known as “unsolicited bulk email,” or “spam” to normal people). I get enough spam, as I am sure everyone else does; I don’t need more from Roku, especially when it’s such brain-dead content.

I’m still glad I bought the device, but I will forever rue the day I let Roku know my email address.

UPDATE: 21 December 2009
Belated report on the firmware update: As it turns out, the “factory default reset” which was advised by Roku’s India-based “customer support” was not merely unnecessary, it was counter-productive, since I had to re-associate my Roku player with my Netflix and Amazon VOD accounts afterward, and still didn’t get the update. I found out that it was unnecessary by reading through the Roku customer forums for a couple of hours, until I discovered a post that claimed the update could be forced to happen by trying it twice within 20 seconds. I tried it, and viola!

UPDATE: 22 July 2010 Since December, Roku has continued to add channels, and my aggravation has decreased massively. There are almost enough channels now to allow me to dump my satellite TV provider (which I’m stuck with until the end of the contract in November anyhow), including among others: Revision 3, Flickr, MediaFly, TwitTV, Pandora, and a plethora of others. There is also at least one app available that lets you stream your own media – video, photos, and music – from a home server to the Roku box so you don’t have to have a noisy (and usually unattractive) PC in the same room with the TV. I’m running MyMedia on my Windows Home Server and watching my video collection without bothering to get up and find the DVD. So at this point, the Roku HD player is back on my “must have” list.

UPDATE: 31 August 2010 As of now, you can get the Roku HD (the model I reviewed here) for less than $70, with free shipping, AND with a $10 gift card for Amazon Video On Demand. I am seriously considering getting a second one. I’m not sure why yet.

And the “technical support” is still abysmal; no matter what the problem is, the drones in Mumbai still tell you to perform a factory reset. The *correct* answer is usually the same as for any PC – disconnect power, wait a minute or two, reconnect power. In other words, reboot. Or as my friends on “The I.T. Crowd” like to say, “Have you tried turning it off and turning it back on again?”

They’re using lasers, Captain!

icesnake — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 17:28:59 +0000

Bowhunting seems like an unlikely sport in which to find gadgets that were science fiction just a short time ago, but believe it or not, some bowhunters in Oregon have come up with an innovation that looks like something out of Universal Soldier.

The Neverguess Rangefinder is an arm-worm laser rangefinder for bowhunters. This is no toy; in addition to the usual line-of-sight distance to the target, this gadget also has a “tilt sensor” so it can accurately calculate true horizontal distance. What does that mean? Remember your geometry lessons from High School; in the diagram, the slant height in red is longer than the true horizontal distance (in blue).

While the difference means very little to non-hunters, any marksman will tell you that the time-of-flight of any missile, be it a hurled rock, an arrow, or a bullet, is dependent almost entirely on the true horizontal distance traveled; having that figure known makes a one-shot, one-kill out come much more likely.

In addition to the gee-whiz factor of having a laser on your arm, the Neverguess Rangefinder is lightweight (16 ounces, or just 448 grams), waterproof, durable (the case is anodized camo aluminium, not painted; most of the internal parts are stainless, and the armguard/armmount is reinforced camo Cordura and velcro) and, because it mounts to your arm rather than the bow, it’s legal in all US States.

The calibration of each unit is done on a high-tech calibration stand using more lasers, and assembly is accomplished right here in the USA using high-tech adhesives and tools that would make Dr. Who envious (no, they don’t use a sonic screwdriver – yet).

Not only is this a geeky gadget, the price has just been reduced a full 25 percent.

The guys have promised me some super-geeky tech info and a tour of the assembly plant later today, so check back soon for more pics and some numbers.

UPDATE: Well, I wanted pics of the calibration bench, but it turns out that the exact method used now is a closely-guarded trade secret, so we can’t show it. I can tell you the old method: A retro-reflective target is set up at a measured distance from the rangefinder, and then the technician “dials in” the correct range. This is fairly slow and pretty labor-intensive, which is why the new bench is such a hush-hush big deal.

Here are some technical facts and figures:

The laser diode operates at 905nm (near infrared, or “NIR”). It’s invisible to humans and animals, although that teacher you had in Third Grade who could see through the wall of the cloak room when you were breaking the rules might be able to detect it.
Optics are designed and anti-reflective coated specifically for the laser.
Body is camo anodized, which actually “leeches” the picture into the aluminum, then sealed.
The adhesive used for construction and waterproofing is cured using an ultraviolet lamp.
Every time the button (which is on the hunter’s fingertip, at the end of the wire seen in the photo up top) is pressed, the rangefinder actuates 64 times (at approx 900 MHz), then evaluates the statistics of the return hits in order to filter out brush, or other accidental hits. In the event of a statistical tie, the computer will prefer the further target.
The display automatically brightens/dims based on ambient light conditions.

Source: Scott Lawson by way of ArcheryAddix.com

Full disclosure: Icesnake is one of the Webmasters for NeverGuessRangeFinders.com in addition to his assorted other hobbies and passtimes.

Can speakers and headphones peacefully co-exist?

Patrick — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 23:24:46 +0000

Why, yes, yes they can! I’m sure many of you have a nice set of speakers hooked up to your computer, to get rumbly explosions and hear the crisp sound of a sword being drawn. But, what if those in your house (be it wife, child, or visitors from Mars) don’t want to share in your gaming or movie?

Sure, you could go and swap cabling around, by a USB headset, or perhaps install a front-mounted port. While those are all well and dandy, I found a solution that is affordable, and allows me to use any of my various (regular, non-usb) headphones. Our friends over at ThinkGeek sell a Speaker/Headset Switching Hub.

Setup is a simple as inserting it between your sound card and speaker input, then you have push-button simplicity for switching between your speakers and headphones. Once it’s in place, you’ve got a nice volume control to use, and you can independently determine if your mic will be in the equation. Or, if for some reason you really love your cell wired headset, that can be plugged in as well.

In the end, this device’s functionality may not be evident by it’s low, low price, but trust me – it’s well worth the purchase.

The new LG BL40 Chocolate: iPhone killer?

icesnake — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 20:15:52 +0000

Honestly, can anything kill the iPhone? Users are entrenched, they’ve “invested” loads of cash in apps from the Apple App Store, and even though there are constant complaints about the quality of AT&T’s network, iPhone users aren’t likely to move.

LG BL40 Chocolate Menu

But the new LG BL40 Chocolate, due for release in 54 countries in late 2009, looks like a smartphone that could convince those considering a move to the iPhone to stay with their current carrier (if it’s not AT&T).

LG BL40 Chocolate

According to the official press release, the new Chocolate will have a 4.0-inch wide screen high-definition LCD with an 800 by 345 pixel resolution. This is a wide screen with an unusual 21:9 aspect ratio (3:4 is “traditional” TV, and 16:9 is modern HDTV). The screen is overlaid with curved tempered glass and is encased in a glossy (“piano”) black finish with red highlights.

LG BL40 Chocolate

If someone at LG USA happens to be reading this and would like a hands-on reviewer (on Verizon Wireless), I’m available…

Quick Tips: Open plastic clamshells quickly

icesnake — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 20:25:04 +0000

It seems like all the cool gadgets come in those annoying plastic clamshell packages; the ones that not only prevent theft when the gadget is in the store, but prevent you from actually using the gadget you just bought! Annoying, isn’t it?

I just found a simple and cheap way to make a hot knife that can be used to slice those packages open without slicing yourself on the plastic (and probably without a lot of risk of the blade slipping and cutting you). Author “Babblin5″ tells you all about it on Instructables.com