Tagged to the 5th Power

My comrade in the Palm business - Alison at Astraware recently tagged me with a meme that has been going around in tech / geek circles to do some explaining about five things people may not know about me.

I think most people know I can be a dry wit, a smart aleck, my desire to be a professional prankster, dog lover, being overly Asian with a healthy appetite of gadgets and being serious about my family and faith... so I had to think hard about this meme... but like Curly of the Three Stooges, I was trying to think, but nothing was happening.

So here are my five:

(1) I was heavily addicted to professional wrestling ever since I was a young kid whose grandma watched it till she was ninety eight. Maybe it was the showmanship, the hype, the exaggeration, trash talking with body slams and flying leaps from the turnbuckles... and my favorite, the figure four leglock that would have some poor guy yelling "Uncle!" that hooked me till I was thirty years old.

In Nashville, I use to hurry down to Berry's Pawn Shop to get front row tickets to watch the locals that promoter Nick Gulas would promote every Friday night at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds. Tojo Yamamoto (I've eaten at his restaurant), Beautiful Bobby Eaton (I tossed a chair on him after it hit me on the shin), Dutch "The Flying Dutchman" Mantell, "Macho Man" Randy Savage (I had a crush on Miss Elizabeth), The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Jackie Fargo (I voted for him as mayor - he had the strut down) and Jerry "The King" Lawler (whom I've pitched to do his fan club newsletter) and many others too numerous to mention. Somewhere in my pile of stuff, I have a picture of me with Andre The Giant. Watching guys body slam each other for two hours made me the mellow person I am today.

Soon, the wresting got too violent with the "Loser Leaves Town" matches - always 2 out of 3 with follow up grudge matches - OK, we really mean it this time - loser leaves town! Throwing salt in the eyes, chains in the tights, two by fours and worse, crouch kicking - all violations of Man Laws - was unacceptable. Plus the epithany - I never saw an ambulance parked outside - which revealed the truth that professional wrestling was fake.

(2) I can't type... whoever invented CRTL C and CRTL V and spell check is a pure genius. I get by at 8 words a minute with my left pointer finger and right pointer and middle finger, but even if I could type at 120 words a minute, my fingers couldn't keep up with my brain. I think faster than I can talk; my mind is always racing creatively.

(3) I don't live a life of regrets, but I often think if I had never ended up in the music business, I would be a vet doctor in the suburbs somewhere or a professional mascot. But then, I would never have met Mrs. WonderDawg 28 years ago either, so that's that. However, I'll probably be the old eccentric guy on the news ten years from now who has a ministry tooling around the USA in a big RV rescuing dogs. Most likely, I'll be like Rev. Will B. Dunn... who does have a ministry to animals...

(4) Speaking of the music business, I had the good fortune of working for WEA, the disribution arm for Warner Bros, Elektra and Atlantic labels back in the really good old days - 1976 to 1984 with retail and concert promotion four years prior. Vinyl was king, there were actually 12 to 15 good songs on a LP, the Sony Walkman and cassettes were invented and concert tickets were $6.50 tops. I was never big on tying my self esteem to some artist or their music, but grateful that Rod Stewart or Fleetwood Mac was putting some serious food on my table with a new baby and all at the commission rate of .00065 cents per LP sold. I always liked the aspect of telling people about great new music, like the time I took some new Irish band around Nashville to radio stations and record stores named U2 after their first album was released. Talk about no respect!

I was excited to always get autographs from artists for my newborn son Gary from the likes of Frank Sinatra, Todd Rundgren, Bonnie Raitt, Prince, U2, Alice Cooper, the Pretenders and many others, but my favorite autograph was from Larry Carlton (who played probably the best guitar solo ever in Steely Dan's "Kid Charlemagne") who signed his LP, "Gary, hope you enjoy this album when you're older!" Priceless.

(5) I had no higher ed-u-ka-shun other than "earn while you learn" and thirst for knowledge via books and mentors. I was glad to get out of high school in 1972 in the midst of busing and rezoning in Richmond, Virginia. What a mess that was to have friendships uprooted since elementary school because of some federal government emphasis on racial diversity rather than academic excellence. That was a wierd time warp where everybody was stressed out on whether they would be drafted and sent to Vietnam, the hippie movement and on and on. Bummer years!

Looking back, I wouldn't trade those years from the experiences and hard knocks endured as they've given me a measure of humbleness and compassion for young kids today. But, you couldn't give me a million dollars to live through those years again. Which probably explains why "The Wonder Years" makes me tear up... what a wuss I am!

Now that I feel better, I 'll tag some other tech / geek folks outside the Nashville area who haven't been tagged yet...
Julie at The-Gadgeteer
Kenny who founded PalmGear
Tunji the African Nerd
and Katherine spouse of a tech guy

Vince Young - UDAMAN !

Vince Young named the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and Associated Press Offensive Rookie of Year

The dynamic quarterback for the Tennessee Titans won The Associated Press Offensive Rookie of the Year Award on Wednesday. He did it in the same fashion he turned around the Titans' season — running away from the rest of the field.

Young, who led Texas to the 2005 national championship and was the third overall pick in last April's draft, overwhelmed one of the strongest rookie classes in NFL history. He received 23 votes from a nationwide panel of 50 sports writers and broadcasters who cover the league.

Houston Chronicle story

Thanks Vince - Great to see Titans fever back in play in Nashville!

Samsung Review @ The-Gadgeteer.com

I am simply amazed at how cell phones have evolved from the "portable" bag phone to today's vast selection of featured laden mobile phones. Built in cameras, music players, text messaging and voice dialing are just some of the options available in mix and match feature laden phones. Add to the mix WiFi and Bluetooth, push email, robust calendar and contact management with Internet access plus a large catalog of third party software makes today's smartphone a compelling reason to leave the laptop at home.

I had the honor of guest reviewing a new Samsung phone over at one of my favorite gadget / tech sites. Julie Strietelmeier is well known in tech circles as editing one of the best gadget sites - in fact The Gadgeteer turns 10 yrs old this year! Bookmark this site and her blog - Julie's Gear Diary if you like practical reviews, especially from a female perspective (there's just a different vibe about smart girls writing about gadgets!)

Read the Samsung Review @ The-Gadgeteer.com

Day 3 of 365 photos in 2007...

Day 3 of 365 photos in 2007... photojournaling my way thru 2007!

Horse statues at the entrance of "The Boulevard" - Belle Meade Boulevard in an affluent area known as the city of Belle Meade, as part of Nashville, TN metro area.

See the rest of the daily series archived at WonderDawg365

Day 2 of 365 photos in 2007...

Day 2 of 365 photos in 2007... photojournaling my way thru 2007!

Flag flying half staff at Percy Warner Park in memory of President Gerald R. Ford 1913 - 2006

See the rest of the daily series archived at WonderDawg365

Review of Sling Media's Sling Box AV

I thought I would voluntarily review the SlingBox AV that I recently won thanks to Vincent at SlashGear.com, via Judie at GearDiary.com and the nice folks at Sling Media!



Watch Your TV Virtually Anywhere with no monthly fees is the value proposition of the Sling Box AV.

Here's the deal - if you like the concept of watching your favorite shows on your Windows or Mac OS laptop or Windows Mobile-based smart phone or PDA device, with no monthly subscription fees, then SlingMedia has the gadget for you whether you love technology or being a couch potato away from home.

As long as you have a broadband Internet connection, whether it's WiFi, Ethernet, or 3G cellular, you're set to watch live programming piped into your home service or even prerecorded content (TIVO or DVR) on your PC or smart phone. So I can sit at a WiFi Cafe enjoying a cup of coffee while watching the NFL Channel, watch SouthPark or Survivor curled up in bed, dream of pimping my car or flipping a house to pass the time at the airport… wherever I am, I can access the same content made available at my home. In my case, I have DirecTV with DVR recording, thus I can view recorded content or program the DVR remotely.

Let's see what's in the box:

The graphics of the Slingbox packaging is tastefully done with matte black and red colors with spot gloss accents.



There's truth in advertising / merchandising / product hype on the backside. Heck, for that matter, read the back of the slipcase! In six panels, one will grasp the simplicity of what the Slingbox does - Watch Your TV Virtually Anywhere.



Inside the slip is a bright red box - with "Welcome to the Future of Television" printed on the side panels.



I am curious... on the back side in small print is:

Lebowski
37

Might be a graphic designer logo or a corporate culture love of The Big Lebowski movie. I'm still trying to figure out if Paul McCartney was the Walrus, so I'll bypass this bunny trail.



Open the box and here's a nice greeting with assurance of tech support help out of the box. Sling Media has a sense of humor with a "How Am I Driving" email address. Good presentation thus far and a box worth keeping along with my Apple boxes.

Inside the box are five items:



A - Quick Start Guide
B - Slingbox AV
C - A/V Pack: Remote Control IR Cable, S-Video Cable, Composite A.V Cable
D - Power Network Pack: Power Adaptor and Ethernet Cable
E - CD-ROM software installation and PDF manual.



The Slingbox measures 10.5" long and 3.5" wide and weighs less than 2 pounds.

Setup was incredible easy! Six easy steps (with a momentary fork in the road) were all it took.



Step 1: Connect the Audio/Video source which I did to the back of the DirecTV DVR using the composite A/V cable - white, red, yellow to the color coded Left, Right, Video jacks.

Step 2: Connect the remote control IR cable that allows the Slingbox to act as a universal remote control. I just had to place the cable near the DirecTV DVR infrared sensors.

Step 3: Connect the Slingbox to the high-speed Internet connection or broadband home network. A router is a must in order to use the Slingbox.

NOTE: Here is where I ran into a momentary roadblock. My router is located in my office opposite the living room where the TV and DirecTV DVR are located. The Slingbox requires a direct connect to a router - or - for a modern home, Ethernet jack in the wall. I had two choices to either drill a hole in the floor, run Ethernet cable from my NetGear Rangemax Wireless Router WPN824 underneath the floor to the Slingbox connection. The other option was to purchase a SlingLink online from SlingMedia for $99.00 list. "The SlingLink acts as an extension cord for the Internet by using your home's existing electrical wiring to transmit the Ethernet signal from your router."

Because I hate paying full list price, I was compelled to visit Amazon where in the comments, a reviewer offered up a helpful caution to connect both SlingLink boxes to outlets on the same circuit. NOPE, I'm not into messing with electricity.

Schomer from Portland, OR offered up a workaround: "I bought a wifi game adapter. It's targeted to getting your XBox or Playstation on your network, but works just the same for the Slingbox, and it's half the price - under $50. You plug your slingbox into the game adapter, and the adapter connects wirelessly to your existing wifi network."

The crazy thing is I conveniently had a NetGear 54 Mbps Wireless Game Adapter WGE111 on hand, that instantly connected with my router without a mess of wires, so I was back in business!

Step 4 involved connecting the Slingbox (and the Wireless Game Adapter) power source, which for me meant moving a heavy bookshelf to access the power strip and labeling the wires to identify the jungle of wires.

I’m only 20 minutes into the installation at this juncture.

The final step was installing the software on the Dell Windows XP laptop, setting up the configuration of matching what type of equipment and remote I was using and registering the product.

I also installed the beta version of the software on the Mac.



Within 30 minutes from start to finish, I was up and running watching the NFL Channel. The playback was smooth with no lag in playback or refreshing while streaming. The only noticeable lag was pausing the playback or changing the channels.



I can watch playback (on one PC at a time) in various window sizes such as full screen or letterbox; anchor the viewing window to a reduced size on my desktop real estate or even watch television full size, which renders beautifully on the 20" iMac screen.



The only surprise is access to the same programming currently being viewed in the living room. Although my DirecTV setup has dual tuners and I have two other receivers in other rooms, I can only watch and remotely control what is currently playing to the unit the Slingbox is accessing.



So when the programming is changed, paused, fast-forwarded or rewound, the actions are replicated on the PC or Mac, or vice versa on the main TV.

The beauty of the system that I see in using the Slingbox AV is accessing local content while out of town. If I'm in California and want to view local news or follow the Tennessee Titans, I can do so from a hotel room or any place that has Internet access. Should I forget to program a TV show like a NPR special, I can do so remotely as well. Last, I can multitask by watching sports highlights in the upper corner of my Mac while working on emails. For those who are accountants, please don't watch the Cartoon Network at the office crunching spreadsheets!

I have not yet tried the mobile version of SlingPlayer on my Windows Mobile-based cell phone or PDA devices as I currently use MobiTV on the Palm Treo 650, but plan to do so at a later date.

Conclusion: The Slingbox AV is a highly impressive bit of technology with highly satisfactory rendering of televised content. I was pleased with the very easy setup, good documentation and useful website with resources such as downloads, tech support and forums.

If you love television, TIVO or having access to time shifting content using the familiarity of your home setup and remote control, then the Slingbox without question, should be your next gadget of choice. I haven't been this excited about a home entertainment product in quite a while since my DirecTV DVR!

On the web: SlingMedia Products

List Price: $179.99



Slingbox in action



Gorman TV Commercial


technorati tag Slingbox

When Black Friday comes...

Black Friday 2006.

Yes, I remember it well. The weather in Nashville was pleasant; and mentally I’m on a beach listening to a Contemporary Hawaiian Music version of Tracy Chapman’s "Baby Can I Hold You"by Ale'a when the demand of the day was to go shopping.

It was the day after Thanksgiving - November 24 - when the Black Friday onslaught of commerce reverberated against the ceiling of consumers’ credit card limits against the expectations of retailers’ economic forecasts.

Gadget geeks' noses were pressed against the glare and glow of computer monitor screens lusting after the latest in electronic gear, gadgets and must haves items such iPods, laptops, HDTV and cameras were beckoning for a home securely plugged in to a power strip.

The headline on the GearDiary site caught my eye: “Fancy a Slingbox for Christmas?”

Well, yeah!

According to the rules: “Entering is super-simple. All you have to do is leave a comment to this post, making a suggestion of what you’d like to see SlashGear review. You can make as many suggestions as you like, but you’ll only get one entry. Closing date is Midnight EST on Wednesday 28th November, at which point one commenter will be picked at random to win the Slingbox AV.”

My response?

Kerry @ Nov 26th, 2006 2:18 am

I’m always recommending gadgets to friends and others. What would be helpful is to provide newbies various entry points to try new technology at “best buy / most bang for buck” recommendations. After reading a great camera review, not everybody can jump in with $1000 to start; maybe that means doing price bracket reviews that over time, give people a chance to upgrade as competence and personal budgets increase. Thanks!

On December 20th, I’d received an email notifying that I was randomly selected as the lucky recipient of a Slingbox AV!



Thanks to Vincent at SlashGear.com, Judie at GearDiary.com and the nice folks at Sling Media!

I thought I do a review of the Slingbox AV...


technorati tag Slingbox

Day 1 of 365 photos in 2007...

Day 1 of 365 photos in 2007... photojournaling my way thru 2007!

My brother-in-law and I normally meet up in Chattanooga as a halfway point between Nashville and Atlanta to transport Helen, my 82 year old momma-in-law. She was a good sport to pose behind the wheel of the Porsche. Can you imagine Granny pedal to the metal in a Porsche?

See the rest of the daily series archived at WonderDawg365

Speaking of warm weather...

That would be me second from the right !

photo source

Warm weather kinda guy

create your own personalized map of the USA

After seeing this map, one might conclude:

(1) I'm not big on cold weather or ...
(2) I'm taking this Mason Dixon line seriously from my schooling in Virginia ...
(3) I have no stomach for liberal politics by not sitting foot in the NorthEast ...
(4) I prefer to fly versus drive (how can I miss West Virginia, Oklahoma and New Mexico?)

I must get out more often, which I will as soon as I snag a new Honda Element..

In March, I'm headed to the great Northwest to visit my son in Seattle and check out Canada !