Tim’s Technology

About Tim’s Technology:

Wi-Fi… Linux… VoIP… Handhelds… Digital Audio… Videoconferencing… Home Theater…

This blog page is devoted to some of the ways I am using technology here at home, at work, at play. If you encounter something that interests you, please comment. In the meantime, enjoy!

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“Touched by an iPod”…  and prepping for the Jailbreak
Posted 4 February 2008
Categories: At Home, Technology, Reflections

It was bound to happen…
One day I was using my Palm T|X, the next I was volunteering to train our Instructional Services group on some of the “in’s and out’s” of pushing the envelope with a PDA. Why?

Well, over the past 2 and 1/2 years my Palm has become that “itty-bitty” laptop replacement that has enabled me to:

• write my formation assignments with ease on it’s handy infrared keyboard wherever I am and finish them in OpenOffice or Word when I am back home
• use Wi-Fi to surf the web when it’s available (most of the time!)
• quickly search the NAB for keywords and access any part of the Bible
• carry AvantGo web pages and reading material off-line
• listen to music or downloaded “podcasts”
• keep a fully synchronized calendar
• move files back and forth between my laptop or home media server with the nifty Wi-File application on the Palm

In short, it has become one of the handiest technology tools I have ever owned. It’s traveled with me when I cycle; survived the spill of a cup of OJ at McDonalds; it has been and still is GREAT! Just the Palm’s ability to move data in and out 4 different ways makes it an unparalleled companion: USB, Wi-Fi, Infrared or Bluetooth. Doesn’t get any better… or does it??

As I began preparing for the training, I began to rethink the way in which I am working: with the exception of typing up documents in Documents-to-Go on the Palm, everything else that I use it for is web-based in one way or another. Hmmm…

I began to consider where we as technology users are going: to rich-media and away from straight text; wireless Internet for information AND for voice; centralized apps that need to talk in the larger enterprise setting.

Enter the iPod Touch, designed to:

• handle the flood of web-based apps and rich-media
• be used in a VoIP environment*
• play music or podcasts with ease and fidelity
• integrate seamlessly into my Google Apps & Macintosh driven environment

Yes, the second bulleted item above was the clincher! (More on that in a bit.) The Touch has a screen almost exactly the same size as the Palm TX. However, it’s resolution is far better and it’s Wi-Fi engine much faster. Driven by the Mac OS, it handles rich-media like video just like any other fully web-integrated computer–except in the palm of your hand. Oh, and size? Yes, it’s tiny.

I’m still using the Palm T|X, but… now I’m preparing to “JailBroke” the iPod Touch using a widely-used software hack created by a 13-year old. And with that, the Touch moves into a brave new world, to be sure. A world in which the tiny tool can be a *Voice over IP (VoIP) phone wherever there is Wi-Fi; a space where the enterprising Open Source geeks of the planets apply their creative talents to unlock the potential of this marvelous gizmo.

I’ve had a month to “play”, learn and enjoy… I’m about ready for the “Jail Break”. Stay tuned!
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A formula for success: LRF = HT
Posted 1 January 2008
Categories: At Home, Technology

It was bound to happen! Our trip to NJ in October helped to generate an initial interest in broadcast, over-the-air HDTV (see It’s All Paul’s (x2) Fault!). Well, with a new HD VHF/UHF antenna and 7 channels streaming in, the next question: “how to display it all?”. A visit to Circuit City to survey the LCD flat panels, plasma and rear projection displays yielded a solid consensus–no way HD was going to fit in our living room!

Now, I’m an old AV guy and it did seem a waste to trap these HD images in a flat panel, no matter how large. And besides, the expense! With those thoughts in mind we revisited our options and took a long look at our 12 x 24 foot family room. At one end of the room, a couch and ample storage cupboard high on the wall. A small window, but no problem there and the large picture window nearly 15′ down the wall. This had some promise… What if I mounted a projector to the ceiling… or, even better yet, placed the projector in the cupboard? After nearly two months of trial-and-error, the help of my son-in-law and a few moments of thinking outside-the-box by all of us, we’re now enjoying the HDTV, DVD’s and our digital photo images on a 106″ diagonal HD 16:9 ceiling mounted screen! Like some close-up shots of the projector mount? Checkout these additional photos at our Gospel Hill Photo server. Just click on “Gospel Hill Cinema”.

Using a heavy-duty monitor arm (totally out-of-date these days), we mounted the Mitsubishi HD1000 DLP 1080p projector upside down in the cupboard. When it’s showtime, we simply swing open the cupboard door and extend the arm, power on the projector, pull down the screen and voila!! HDTV, the latest movie on DVD (Blu-Ray coming soon) or our own digital images are filling the room. Adding to the mix is a Kenwood VR-507 AV 5.1 Surround Receiver at 100 watts per channel and a 200 watt powered subwoofer paired to a Kenwood KS-505HT speaker system.

The system design grew out of consultations with Paul in New Jersey, whose home theater setup inspired the initial concept. My brother, Tom, a super AV guy in his own right, helped me to zero in on a good mix of equipment. I chose the Mitsubishi HD-1000U based upon cost, HD capability, connectivity and image quality. Projector Central’s “projector calculator” was invaluable in finding just the right throw distance and screen size.

“Going to the movies” has never been easier than it is now. The distance from the couch to the screen is 16 feet, providing ample seating for up to twelve people. With the exception of the front column speakers and the Draper Luma screen hugging the ceiling, no equipment is in sight. Instead of placing the equipment in the Family Room, the HD video server, Kenwood surround receiver and Toshiba DVD/VHS player are housed in our entrance way coat closet. The shelf is right below the cupboard, enabling cable runs to the projector of just 6 feet. The usual collection of remote controls communicate via a Jensen JDSC-IR100A “wireless infrared extender”.

We’ve been enjoying the reaction from family and friends, to be sure! Since no Home Theater equipment is visible, it’s great fun to convert our cozy family room into a theater in just 2 or 3 minutes. Our secret to longevity on the projector lamp? Running it on “economy” with an average lamp life of 3000 hours. It’s whisper quiet, projects a brilliant hi-def image and the only movie requirement is this: 25 cents per movie goes into the LRF jar (Lamp Replacement Fund). At the rate we’re going, we’ll have several lamps paid for before the original lamp needs to be replaced!
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It’s all Paul’s (x2) fault!
Posted 5 November 2007
Categories: At Home, Technology

One thing I know how to do is lay blame at the right doorstep. And in this case, it’s with two “Paul’s” separated by 250 miles and lots of hilly terrain. Despite that, they share one thing in common: a real love for technology. Both of them are willing to experiment until they “get it right”. And in a rare alignment of interests, the two have been pursuing very different courses that have lead to the same endpoint: HDTV. Now, I’m just pulling their legs: each in his own way has been an inspiration.

A few years ago, our NJ Paul showed me the great broadcast HDTV that he was capturing with his MDP-130 HD Tuner card. Great stuff. He was just outside of Trenton with access to so much. Here in the country, a good 35 miles plus away from Binghamton, NY, broadcast HDTV just wasn’t happening! However, time marches on and just about six months ago, our friend Paul in Guilford setup a deep fringe UHF/VHF/FM antenna and began pulling in 10 channels: 6 of them in HD! Well, that got my interest.

The Guilford Paul has had consistently great results with the high-definition broadcast signals. Meanwhile, New Jersey Paul moved onto into a full home theater setup (astounding!!), with his HD source coming from Comcast. He graced me with his old HD tuner card and that was all the motivation I needed.

With a bit more research, I discovered that Terk’s HDTVo antenna (a preamplified, modified yagi design) that’s not much bigger than a DirectTV dish pulls in the six Binghamton HD channels great. The tuner card is now in a Dell SC1420 server that I running with OpenSUSE 10.1. The downside was having to load Windows XP on that big box with its 3.0Ghz Xeon processor–but it works beautifully. I’ve got a terabyte of storage on-line (of which 350Gb is in a 3-disk RAID 5 array) and I can capture HD programming beautifully. In fact, with the OpenSource VLC viewer on my Mac Mini I’m able to enjoy programming with ease right over our wireless network.

Of course the data that’s being captured is ENORMOUS: 7 seconds of the World Series–18 megabytes! Two hours of Ken Burns WWII: 15Gb. My brother Tom sat down with me last week and helped me work through some home theater ideas. All very neat stuff. It’s going to be fun to see how it all works out, but, as you can see, it’s all Paul’s (x2) fault! Thanks, fella’s…

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Embracing the beast – Part 2
Posted 13 October 2007
Categories: Reflections, At Home, Technology

In February 2007 I posted a piece about Google: specifically about Google Apps. The post, entitled “Embracing the beast… cautiously!” revealed my ambivalence about walking on to the dance floor with the “Do No Evil” empire of Google. Well, that was 8 months ago, and since that time, I have launched seven Google Apps domains–yes, 7! Already, these domains are servicing hundreds of people, backed by a company that I still have concerns about.

Back in February I asked: “Finally, what if that company possessed the technical infrastructure to enable this with very high reliability: not just for that one person, but for hundreds, thousands, perhaps millions of others? Fantasy? No, REALITY!“

What was I thinking?? Good question; I have some good answers, too. Since February, using Google Apps I have:

• Launched 3 family websites with shared calendar and collaborative space,
• Consolidated a K-12 school district’s web-based resources in a series of Google hosted web pages and begun the creation of collaborative “communities” among its faculty by becoming a Google Apps Education partner,
• Assisted a family extending human services in a way that was nearly impossible before G-Apps,
• Begun the creation of an interactive web space for Deacons in Formation in the U.S.
• Assisted a new business venture in creating a WWW space–once again with G-Apps

During that time I’ve also switched over our home-based e-mail accounts to G-Mail, retaining our custom domain and identity, while leveraging the flexibility of Google’s interrelated suite of web-based apps. And, I didn’t spend hundreds of hours doing it.

At every step of the way I’ve expected glitches, hiccups, problems–nothing of the sort has occurred! As a technology person, even I’m amazed at the possibilities… Sure, the web-based apps have limitations, but when 2, 10 or 100 users can collaborate on a document on-line simultaneously–well, I’ll trade a few limitations for the ability to interoperate so seamlessly!

What brought it all together for me was being able to bring people together in ways that are useful and that enable them to accomplish tasks more easily, as well as to communicate in ways that suit their needs. When the initial cadre of teachers explored new ways of approaching educational technology in our first Google Apps Orientation sessions this week, that cautious embrace of eight months ago turned to a hug!
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Postscript: All of my recent domains have been registered with 1&1 Internet Inc. The last two were a grand outlay of $5.98 for the year! The domains include 5 subdomains (CNAMES) that setup nicely for use with Google Apps. 1&1 is a tested domain supplier with G-Apps and it seems to work well. 1&1 may take a few hours to respond to the initial account setup, but once the domain is set, it plays nicely with Google, includes good tools and handles DNS changes quickly.

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A Superchard McDonald’s Breakfast!
Posted 27 September 2007 by Tim McNerney
Categories: Technology

Sure I was hungry when I hit McDonalds in Hancock, New York! The day began 5 hours earlier when I awoke at 4:47 in the morning. That was July 20th, the second and longest day of my 3-day Cycling Retreat. The song of the birds and the sound of the dripping water punctuated my consciousness as I stirred from a restless sleep so early that morning.

And yet, the ride to Hancock from Downsville was one of the best I’d ever had. As I emptied my cycling pack, I couldn’t resist taking this photo. Click on the photo and take a closer look:

Yes, that’s a keyboard with my little Palm T|X resting on it. Despite traveling “lite”, I had my TECHNOLOGY with me. And why not? McDonalds provided Wi-Fi, which the Palm had no problem negotiating. The keyboard made jotting down my thoughts, reflections and musings all the easier–especially when posting to Gospel Hill Posts. Although I didn’t post right then, I could have. A nifty little Open Source program for the Palm, u*Blog, makes it all very doable.

Ah, but that’s not the whole story: you’ve probably noted the yogurts “bundled” in with my Sausage McMuffin and coffee! With a 60 mile ride ahead of me that morning, I made sure that the whole person was fed: food=body; technology=mind; ride=spirit.

Mind, body & spirit. Reflecting back from a 2-month perspective, it couldn’t have been better!
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How it all began…

Transistors. Yes, that’s where this “technology thing” began. I purchased my first transistor radio (12 transistors, if I recall!) from McCrory’s department store. I was 10 or 11 years old and Elvis was about the hottest thing going on the AM dial. 9 volt battery and imitation leather case, too–made in Japan.

Within a week, I’d taken it apart… two weeks later I’d strung a 100 foot wire from the soldered antenna terminal in the radio in my second floor bedroom window to the garage… all in an effort to improve the reception. No lightning on that one!

Today

Over four decades later, I’m still working on reception! Wi-Fi now, though. Setting up an informal neighborhood Wi-Fi mesh network of sorts using “pringles can” style antennas. Yes, wireless. It’s changed the technology dynamic: no cables in an untethered, somewhat “organic” relationship to mountains of digital data broadcast far and wide. I’ll plan to start there on my next post.