The One Year TV Purchase
Last July, the wife and I were discussing the possibility of getting one of those shinny new flat screen televisions and then fate intervened to push us along. Our discussions were centered around replacing the main living room television. We had many questions; “What size?”, “LCD or Plasma?”, “Brand Quality?” were just a few. Money was also a big concern because I did not want to spend a small fortune because the more that you spend, the more likely that you are to have “buyers remorse.” So why this debate went continued, our bedroom television flatlined. This turned our attention to a slightly, to a less substantial purchase. This was also a bit comforting that we could make this decision on a smaller scale before deciding on a living room purchase.
Enlisting the help of the Internet, I started to research so that the broken television could be replaced without delay. Professional and amateur/antidotal reviews were scoured looking for the best answer for the situation. This would be an easy task if money was not an issue but this fact kept our decision in check. In the end, the decision was to purchase a Westinghouse model SK-32H240S. The screen was great and it contained many of the necessary features, including price. This was the end of our adventure, so we thought.
Fast forward about six months and we started having some power issues. The unit would sometimes not turn on, unless it was unplugged and then plugged back in to the wall. I called Westinghouse customer service and they were very friendly and helped me trouble shoot the issue. It was beyond a phone call, and would require a service call. They proceeded to inform me that the warranty service was facilitated through BestBuy. This was where the purchase was made so it provided some comfort that yet another party was not go get involved.
Scheduling the service appointment was another task that took awhile. I went back and forth in an attempt to get a service time but it just was not working out for my schedule right then. Along comes May and the need to burn some vacation days provides opportunity to schedule that needed service appointment. On May 26, the Best Buy service rep (John) arrived and proceeded to address the issues at hand. He was very nice and reassured me that the situation would be corrected but he needed some parts which he ordered. The parts were to arrive in about a week but an automated phone call ten days later informed me that the parts were back ordered. I waited five weeks before calling to check up on the status, this was the one year mark. After some digging I was told that the parts were to arrive on August 3.
A phone call from John the service changed that waiting stance. He apologized for the delay and expressed concern that the parts would arrive as scheduled. He then provided a return code to exchange the broken TV for a new fully functioning model. This prompted a swift trip to BestBuy to finally clear up this mess that had sat on the burner for far to long. The old Westinghouse was exchanged for the current model (SK-32H540S), which I assumed would be at least as good as the one being returned. Up back on unboxing to new device some shortcomings were detected. First it would produce static sound even with the volume completely down or muted. Then there was the blue light, a piercing blue light that indicated power, because the screen was insufficient. The first television had this light as well but it cold be shut off, no such luck this time. One other item that made the unit different was the menus that appeared to be drawn with crayons. This comment may seem to be trivial but user interface is an important feature in my book. This ones going back to the store. The response from the store was positive I just needed to decide on a new model.
The BestBuy manager suggested a few models to replace the unwanted television but some research needed to be done. It was almost back to square one a year later. After searching I found a Sony model (KDL-32L4000) that seem to fit the bill. I was further amused to read virtually the same story as mine in a personal review of the Sony model on a forum. I have spent a week with this so far and have very few minor criticisms. But what most impresses myself is that the purchased stated a year ago seems now to be completed.
Wordpress App
This site is built on WordPress blog software, not because I could not build this site myself because I have created many other websites. But why should I spend the energy when I have so many other responsibilities. Using the software has proven interesting as I am not accustom to working with other people code for anything other than learning and adapting to my own will. But it has been an adventure implementing a software of another’s design. I have found excitement with the amount of plugins that offer great extensibility to my new website.
One of these was a plugin that offered an iPhone interface for the WordPress administration functions. While I thought this might be useful and it was well produced, it seemed a bit limiting. When the Apple App Store opened I was forlorn to discover that a TypePad application is available for the iPhone. Well that was just turned around when I discovered that a iPhone application for WordPress is under development. And it appears to be very feature rich, see the video below and/or check out the WordPress blog.
The Blendtec Adventures
The iPhone is very useful you can manage email, calendar, photos, media, and surf the web. I must admit that it is in my hand quite a bit. (Did I mention I am a self diagnosed technology-addict? Should I seek help?) But as useful as this device may be I must admit that using the iPhone for a marketing tools is a great idea. Capitalizing on the all the press and the excitement works out out to be cheap advertising. Blendtec produces high end blenders that seem to handle just about anything. Based on the videos, I would consider getting one. (that means the marketing is working) People were astounded when that first iPhone was released that Blendtec created a video that converted the device into black powder. Well it has been 48 hours since that new iPhone 3G was released and version two of the video is now available.
The 3G iPhone blended.
This train wreck fascination that is leveraging new media is one companies way of marketing out side the box. Creative ways of leveraging new media and meeting the active consumer is something that other companies need to embrace. As television and print media fade away (yeah I said it) the companies that succeed in the future are the ones that will have established themselves in this next generation of marketing mindset. Only time will tell, who will survive.
iPhone 2.OOOOhh
For my birthday last year, my wife (a sweetheart) bought me an iPhone. While I thought that the iPhone would have third-party applications last year, around October, but instead there was just an announcement stating that Apple would allow applications sometime in the future. Then again a few months later with my hopes high, it did not happen in March like I hoped. But finally a little over twenty-four hours ago the Apple opened the App Store. Now finally, I can load third-party apps on my phone without hacking by using some warranty voiding method, not that I was not tempted a few times.
There is quite a variety (over 500) of applications at Apple’s iTunes store and I have downloaded a several already. Some are good some have questionable value. One in the later category is Saber Phone which simulates a Star Wars light saber. It did bring big smiles to the kids face and we had a few laughs but I do not see this one lasting on my phone very long. On the other end of the scale I have been playing a game and I am not by nature a gamer. What is this wast of time that has caught my interest, Super Monkey Ball. The game is played by rolling a ball that contains a monkey through mazes that become quite challenging fast. And currently I am stuck at level seven.
Besides being a fun game to play, the quality is amazing. The graphics are stunning and I find the physics of using the phones motion sensors to control by tilting and shifting the game very entertaining. The one need that the game does not fill that I wanted is a game that I could play when I am waiting (e.g. doctor, dmv). But a grown man swerving around with a candy colored screen is a bit more than I think most of the public could handle. But there is always solitaire or Bejeweled to fill that void.
Hootenanny
Last week, I was working on what I thought was a simple project but projects always have some challenges. The project was a simple edit of about two hours of video that included lecture and demonstration interviews. So I thought I would try out the new iMovie to do a quick edit and export to iDVD for the final product. The editing went fairly smooth once some time was spent digesting the new interface. Now an export to iDVD to build the menu and burn the DVD. But I realized that I needed to include some chapters in the project so that three interviews at the end of the program could be located easily. Well, iDVD will only do time based chapters in equal increments and that wouldn’t work at all. But if the video has chapters embedded in it then iDVD will automatically add the chapter menus to the video. After some review, there was no sign of this function in iMovie but that was OK because QuickTime Pro can add chapters marker to video.
To create the chapters you just need a carefully formatted text file that contains the chapter timings which is then imported into QT and converted to a movie. This text only movie is then overlaid onto the video project, then magically you have a movie with navigational chapters. Now all that is needed is to import the video back into iDVD, but alas once there it is still missing the chapters. iDVD does not respect QT chapters. Now the frustration sets in and results in a trip to the Internet for some help from my anonymous support system.
After a not so quick search, I came across a little utility named Metadata Hootenanny that could solve my issue. I could have created the chapters in this application easier than the text file method but they were already done. So, all that was required as a quick save and and reimport into iDVD. Once imported the chapter menu appeared just as I had expected earlier in this process. Render and burn, I was done. This is a great little utility and worth checking out for anyone that works with QuickTime, plus it has a interesting logo.
