Well, now that the XBox 360 is soon going to be a reality, I figured I would rebuild my computer with Windows Media Center so I can really take advantage of the XBOX Media Center Extender.  This will allow a 360 to see the content on a Media Center PC over your home network.  I have to admit that I haven't looked at Home Theater PC's in a few years and boy have they changed.   Media Center 2005 is a really slick piece of software.    It is designed to be accessed from your couch using a remote control or from your desk using a mouse.  It can record tv like a tv, view pictures and play music.   For me, I plan to use it to watch the latest in internet tv programs like Digg, CommandN and TWIT and of course, some random shows I "borrow" from friends via BitTorrent ;)    I was able to rip my favorite DVD's and they play just fine from a simple folder on my network.     I have now completely flip-flopped.   Media PC's are AWESOME.   Now, I just need to find a good dual tuner HDTV card to drop in my ole Shuttle XPC so I can really make this baby shine.   If you haven't seen it before, I have a screen shot on the left.

PS - Go signup for your XBOX Gamer Card on www.XBOX.com so you are all set for XBOX Launch day next month.   You can see mine at the right.   Later.

My PAD project is continuing.   I am in the final stretch of the project (9 months so far) and will probably stop at the end of a year.   I am thinking of doing a picture a week and focusing more on the quality of the ideas and technique which gets lost in the shuffle taking a picture a day.

I have a few new gadgets that I purchased lately.  

First off, I upgraded my Treo to the new Treo 650.   It's a big step forward and a big step backward.   It's got bluetooth, a high resolution screen and a removable battery.   These features are great...unfortunately, they come with a few problems.   Specifically, Palm decided to try out a new file system that is nothing but trouble.   The thing is very picky about software  Lots of software can simply crash it so it resets at least once every few days.   Hopefully firmware upgrades will fix that up.    If anyone is interested in my old Treo 600 (almost perfect condition) let me know.

I also grabbed a new iPod Shuffle.   It's awesome.  It weighs nothing.  I use it so much, I may just give up on my main iPod.    Since my SLK plays MP3 natively, there really isn't a need for it anymore.

Finally, I am replacing my laptop.  For the first time, I am going to try a Sony VAIO.   I really want an Apple, but being a programmer, that's not going to work.   I figure the Sony is the closest thing you can get on the PC side.   It is a custom Sony FS-500.    I will try to post on how I like it when it comes in.

Well, that's about all that's going on.    I think it's time for a drive.  I will try to update more often if I can.

Looks like Palm finally announced the Treo 650.   Its a nifty device but unfortunately I can't get one until next year since it looks like it will be Sprint only for quite a while.

Oh yeah, I am also building my new computer...I still have to hammer down a few components like a new monitor (Apple 23 vs Sony 23) but I will post an update when I decide for sure.

1. It doesn't support sending native resolution to my Samsung. This way I could let the Sammy take care of the up/down conversion.

2. I think the picture quality isn't quite as sharp as my previous HD receivers. Actually, it may be, but I need to tweak the TV some.

3. The DirecTV style guide is SLOW. Not just slightly slow. We are talking watch the screen paint slow. Luckily the Tivo (List) guide performs decently so I am living with it.

I can't wait to see how this things evolves over time. I really hope that it gets the HMO soon. It could become the ultimate media center for a home theater. So far, I am in love. I definately recommend it to anyone with an HD capable TV as the ultimate tool to get the most out of your gear.

BTW - i also got a SD Directivo at the same time for only 80 bucks so as soon as the Tulsa locals are up Dish Network will be evicted from my house. I can't wait.

Goodbye 921, Hello HDTivo - After a lot of trouble with the software that powers the 921, I finally decided to sell it.     It is now gone.   Now I am in search of an HD Tivo.   I will be switching to DirectTV as soon as I find one.    As usual I will let you know how I like it.

Goodbye Bravo, Hello Momitsu - Another trouble spot in my home theater was the Bravo D1.   I have replaced it with a Momitsu 880.   It is so much better.  It has been rock solid, delivers the same or better picture quality that the Bravo did and hasn't eaten one disk.   I did get a replacement Bravo from vinc.com.  They claim the new version fixes the problems but it was too late.   If anyone wants the Bravo, make me an offer.

However,  there is just one problem.    This is a receiver made by Dish Network.      This means that the receiver is only half done and pretty unstable.     Let me give you a couple of examples.   First of all, it does show the OTA channels in the guide but...it doesn't show any information about what is on those channels.    Second, it seems to just spontaneously crash on me every once in a while.     Finally, while it can pause and record HDTV Over the Air channels... it can only do this magic on SOME channels.     Little did I know this problem until I tried to rewind the Super Bowl to see a particular section (wink wink).    The receiver just looked at me like I was an idiot.     It turns out that it can only record basic shows on channels that don't have sub channels.   Well, hopefully it will get worked out soon.

It's not all bad.   When using the satellite tuner, everything works VERY well.   I have recorded a number of shows on Discovery HD Theater and the picture is amazing.   Being able to record one channel while watching another is a great feature.    

Well, so far the experience is very mixed.   On the one hand, it does things no receiver can do.   On the other, it doesn't do anything reliably.    I have decided to live with it for the next couple of months.     I will keep you up to date as new versions are released.   If it doesn't improve by then... it's HDTV TiVo time.

A couple of other updates.  The Dish 921 is finally shipping and I expect to get mine in a week or two. I will give an update when it arrives.  Of course, in traditional Dish Network fashion, they are a bit late to the game.  The HD Tivo looks like it will be here in March.  I expect the 921 will only be on my equipment rack for a little while.  At that time, I will probably switch to Directv and get the TiVo.

OK, so I know you are all thinking....what can I get Jake for Christmas. Well let me help you out. I want a lot of stuff, but if you all get together, you can get me this.  It is the Canon EOS Digital Rebel.  It is the first under 1000 dollar digital SLR camera and it is the latest on my lust list.  I really want this camera. It is the only thing between me and the greatest pictures ever seen.  Well, this camera and some talent :)

Also, I have been thinking of upgrading my audio equipment pretty soon.  Currently I have a few year old Sony ES receiver driving  I was thinking of a new receiver but I kind of miss the separates I used to drive my NHT's with.  I did some research and came across the Outlaw Audio website.  They have a really good Preamp/Amp combo on sale right now for around $1600.  Reviews that I have found are all very positive, and I will be able to pick up some of the new audio standards that I am missing right now (ProLogic II, DTS-ES, etc)

What I love

• The Form factor is perfect.   It feels great as a phone or as a PDA.   Everyone I have shown it too wants one.   I think I have already sold 5 of them...I should get a commission.
• The stylus free life.   I never realized how much I didn't like using a stylus until I used this device.  You RARELY have to take out the stylus.  With my 270 I became an expert at holding the stylus between two fingers while typing with the thumbs.   It was downright clumsy compared to the 600.
• OS5 - Finally I can run all of the latest software.  The 270 used Palm OS3.5!!!
• Battery life is amazing.   I have yet to see it dip below 85 percent.
• Camera - I had no idea how much I would use the camera.   I keep snapping pictures everywhere. 
• External Storage -  Finally I can backup my device and store all of my ebooks on one card.   SD cards are up to 512mb so I can fit a LOT of data on there.

What needs to improve

• The screen is really good but needs higher resolution and a higher bit depth.   I still can't use this as a decent photo viewer and my ebooks are not as crisp as I would like.
• I miss TreoMail.   It was the best mail software for the Treo and is now gone.  I am stuck with Visto which isn't quite as polished.   Maybe someday Snappermail will add IMAP support and this problem will go away.
• It doesn't come with a cradle.   Luckily one is available for 30 bucks more but should come in the box.
• Non-standard headsets and headphones.    They should have put a standard headset jack on it.
• Camera is lacking.   It needs a bit better performance in low light.

Here is what I did to hack my phone originally.

 - Filez  - This allows you to see the files in the ROM and copy them down to your hard drive. 
 - SD Card - This is so you can easily transfer the file from your palm to your computer.
 - PRCEdit Version 1.0 Beta - Allows editing PRC Files. 

Here is what I did (this is for information purposes, you can skip to the next section if you just want to update your logo).

• Using Filez, copy the file Phone_CNGW from the ROM (little memory icon) to your SD Card.   To show ROM files check the checkbox at the bottom right of the screen.  For other carriers the file name is probably different.
• Put the SD Card in your PC and open the file Phone_CNGW using PRCEdit.    You should see a pictures that looks like the picture at the right.
• Next Delete the TWO bitmap files in this PRC.   The correct bitmaps to delete are shown in the pictures.   Unfortunately, you can't seem to edit these bitmaps to change the logo.    I am sure someone with more expertise can figure out how to edit instead of just deleting them.
• Uncheck ReadOnly and Save the file using PRCEdit.
• Hotsync the file to your Palm (if you didn't uncheck read only earlier this will fail).

That's it.   When you connect and disconnect you will see a nice simple Handspring Logo.   I am still working on replacing the actual logo instead of just reverting to Handspring.  I will let you know if I figure it out.

The easy way to replace the logo.  After a bit of trial and error this is the simplest way to replace the logo.

• Open my modified PRC file using PRCEdit.  Here is a link to the file.  This file is for originally for Cingular but will work on any phone.   If you use the file in the firmware (as I did originally) it will crash PRCEdit.  Here is a link to PRCEdit.
• Create your "connecting" graphic  and "disconnecting" graphics using any graphic editor you wish.  It should be sized to 160x160 pixels.
• Select your connecting graphic and copy it to the clipboard.
• Double Click on the bitmap labeled 6851 and select the edit button below the 16 bit bitmap.  You will see the current bitmap. 
• Paste your graphic into the box opened in the last step.
• Close the graphic editor and close the bitmap resource editor.
• Select your disconnecting graphic and copy it to the clipboard.
• Double Click on the bitmap labeled 6861 and select the edit button below the 16 bit bitmap.  You will see the current bitmap. 
• Paste your graphic into the box opened in the last step.
• Close the graphic editor and close the bitmap resource editor.
• Save the PRC and close.
• Hotsync the file as you did in the above instructions and you are good to go.

If you don't want to hack your own file and just want to use mine,  you can simply do the following.  This will replace your carrier logo with the standard Unlocked logo.

• Hotsync the Phone_Logo file (Here is a link) to your phone.
• That's it.

There are a number of people starting to post logo's on teh web.   Here are a couple.

• BCaslis has a number of logos already prepared here
• Treo600Essentials has also started a group just for logos.

This worked for me and should be safe (as long as you don't try to burn the file back to the ROM but I take no responsibility for any problems you have with your phone.

The new Treo 600 will finally be released next week so I  have placed my preorder one as soon as they ship.  The Treo 600 is the next generation of the Handspring Treo.  This is a convergence device that combines a phone and palm pda into one package.  It enables you to do many things that are not easy to do two devices such as checking email and surfing the web.  Having carried a Treo 300 for the last year...I can't go back to two devices ever again.

After being very disappointed with sprint, I am switching to T-Mobile.  Also, I have decided this time to get an unlocked non-carrier specific model.  This means that I can carry it to another GSM provider if I decide I don't like T-Mobile (not likely).  Also, it means it will not have a logo for a specific carrier on the phone which adds a bit of uniqueness to the phone.  Since I am now going to have a camera where ever I go...I also have setup a new MoBlog.  What...you don't know what a Moblog is.  It is a way for people with camera phones to log their daily life using pictures.  It makes it easy to email a picture from your phone and have it instantly show up on the web.  My MoBlob will be at jakepratt.textamerica.com when I get it all setup. 

The new TV is Awesome.  I finally got my Samsung DLP TV and have been playing with it for a few weeks.  This TV is really cool. The first thing you notice about it is how shallow it is.  It is only 18 inches deep.  I had a bit of trouble deciding on the best stand for it (it is a table top model) but finally decided on the Samsung stand that is designed to go with the TV and am very happy. 

Besides the stand problems, I did have a few problems with the upgrade.  First my HD receiver just decided to stop working.  Luckily, I love it when things break because I get to upgrade so I went out and bought a Samsung SIR-t165.  This is an Over the AIR HDTV tuner that can also tune analog channels.  It also has the ability to output its signal via Component, DVI or RGB making it very versatile.  This should hold me over until the Dish 921 comes out (who knows when.)  The second problem I had was that my DVD Player didn't fit under the Samsung stand.  Well, once again, it decided to upgrade the DVD Player.  Since this TV is digital, I decided to go with one of the latest generation DVD players that can output digital via a DVI connection.  I went with a little known player from a company called "V"  They make the Bravo D1 DVI DVD player.  Watching DVD in full digital is AMAZING.  All of the noise you normally see with dvd is gone.  All you see is a pixel perfect reproduction of the bits on the DVD. The final problem is that the TV didn't come with the latest firmware which has discrete codes (allowing me to switch inputs via my pronto) so I am waiting for Samsung to upgrade it.

A DLP based TV is a fully digital tv which means that the image isn't sent to an Analog CRT to produce the image.  Instead it is sent to a digital device called a Digital Mirror Device.  This DMD has tiny mirrors that turn on and off very quickly to lighten or darken the pixels. The light which bounces off of the mirrors is then timed with a color wheel which produces the color on the screen.  This technology eliminates the convergence issues associated with CRT based TV's and produces a pixel perfect image.

It does have a couple of disadvantages such as, it doesn't produce black as well as a CRT and some people can see rainbows when they look at the screen (because of the color wheel) but to me it looks GREAT with pixel perfect images with no geometry issues or curved lines (granted my CRT is really good after being calibrated)  I will probably order it in the next few weeks.

Jan 25 2003 - New Car....New Gadget. I upgraded my digital camera to something a bit more serious. The Canon PowerShot S45. This thing is GREAT. It boasts 4 megapixels. Heck, half of the features, I don't even understand. Looks like I have some books to read.

Check it out at...
http://www.powershot.com/powershot2/s45/index.html

I almost forgot to mention the other new gadget I ordered recently.  It is the Dish Network 921 PVR.  It is the Ultimate Personal Video Recorder.  If you have never heard of a PVR, where have you been.  Basically it lets you record and pause live TV as well as record shows while you are out.  If you have seen a Tivo, you have seen a PVR.

This is the latest and greatest PVR made (well when they start making it). It has a number of features that are completely new to PVR's.  It has the ability to Record 80 Hours of standard definition TV but more importantly it can record 40 hours of HD TV.  In addition to recording HD, what makes this box special is how many boxes it can completely replace.  For me, it will replace my Satellite Receiver, PVR, and HDTV Tuner and seamlessly integrate them into one simple to use interface.  Unfortunately, since I pre-ordered this, it may be a couple of months before it actually ships, but hopefully it will be worth the wait.

Seriously, it does add some features.  It is smaller, lighter, completely touch sensitive buttons and now includes a really slick cradle.   

If you want the details, it is at www.apple.com