The internet and local media, blogs and opinion sites are all covering this issue. How is your wallet feeling? I started thinking about this last weekend. My wife and I were talking about the price of gas and she said “Groceries are getting ridiculous, eggs alone are up over 30 cents a dozen”. I do the grocery shopping in our house, but she had went the week before after about a 6 week gap. When the price of milk goes up 75 cents a gallon over 6 months, people take it in stride. The prices rose a bit each week, numbing me to the effect.

Our family of four, ages 45, 42, 10, and 6, run a grocery tab of over $150 per week now, up from just about $100 a year ago. That increase includes places where we have cut out extravagances - less expensive salad mixes and dressings, cheaper brands in our cleaning and laundry supplies, generic brands where we didn’t use them previously, etc. This amount does not include meals out - which we used to do more often, dining out is an extra we can cut. However, it is a form of entertainment for our family - and it helps maintain domestic “bliss” - so at what cost does this “cost saving” measure come?

When the price of gas goes up 30 cents in a day - everyone notices, when it does that 3 weeks in a row - everyone whinces. When gas is nearly $4 a gallon, we all feel it - regardless of our incomes. I drive an Acura TL and it takes $53 to fill the tank - OUCH! I wish I had gotten a Civic instead.

Everything is connected, transportation costs are affected by the cost of fuel, ethanol producers are buying as much corn as they can, so corn related items increase, feed for cattle, tortillas, you get the point.

Everything is driven by the value of the dollar - because we import and export so much, foreign currency values affect our inflation rate - and the dollar is in the gutter. Economists say that increasing the value of the dollar will create greater inflation - how much greater can it be than what I describe above?

Remember - all of this is my OPINION, and I didn’t take the time to back it up from other resources.

I got an iPhone in early November, and promptly fell in love with it. So, what does a geek like me do - I bought a Mac to go with it. Not quite like Chris Pirillo’s Mac, a MiniMac, a little bitty tiny taste of Apple. Oh, boy that was the wrong thing for a Windows guy to do - I like the taste.  I like the stability, I like the look of the screen, I LOVE FRONT ROW (and I run Vista Ultimate on my main machine), and plainly it JUST WORKS. 

I hooked it up to the 32″ 720P LCD TV in my office and it worked immediately. I bought a Microsoft Bluetooth mouse to go with the Apple Bluetooth keyboard, and it worked immediately - no drivers needed. WOW. The MacMini joined my wireless network, simple setup - and it worked. I am becoming a Mac Fan.

Will I ever make the BIG switch - I don’t know yet? But the little switch is working out very well.

Imagine that an app that is both cool and useful, it can only happen on the iPhone. That would be Springlets. When I first saw this on lifehacker.com I assumed your phone had to be jailbroken (mine is not). Well, all it needs is to be running 1.1.3, which I am, and voila - Springlets on MY iPhone.

The first thing I did was set up a speed dial for my wife. Yes, right on the main screen is an icon used to dial my wife, WOW. My only (and not very strong at that) reservation about the iPhone has been it’s closed apps. Well, obviously this is just the beginning, more awesome stuff when the Dev Kit starts producing.

Load www.springlets.com on your iPhone and you are on your way. It’s that easy. If you own an iPhone and can get to the website, you certainly can load the icons. 

I have always been a Windows guy, beta tested Win95, Win98, ME, XP and Vista, as well as a lot of Office releases. I build my own Windows machines and custom rigs for friends. Well, my iPhone convinced me to buy a Mac Mini and try out OS X. I love it. I may not be as far along as Chris when it comes to Mac adoption, but I am certainly on the road.

I think I may be. I have often pondered running a server at home, but the thought of actually managing it left me cold. Well, I may just warm up to Home Server. I have not beta tested it, so my opinion is based on the opinions of others.

Windows Home Server’s core functionality includes:

• Automatic backup of all Microsoft Windows XP and Windows Vista PCs on the network

• Centralized storage of data and media files
• Expandable disk drive capacity
• Remote access to files and folders from the Internet

You will be required to have a Windows Live ID, as remote access is via a Windows Live hookup.

This may not have all of the functionality of a regular server, but it sure will go a long way towards making home system maintenance and backup a lot easier.

[tags]microsoft, windows, home server[/tags]

Jointly sponsored by Amazon and Microsoft, the 1000 HD DVD Indies Project changes the distribution game for indie filmmakers shooting in high definition.

At no charge, up to 1000 selected entries will be authored to HD DVD using Microsoft’s world-class technology and then made available to millions of Amazon.com customers through the CustomFlix Disc on demand service. Units are produced as customers order, so there is no inventory to worry about.

Filmmakers set their own list price and earn royalties on all sales. Plus, filmmakers are free to pursue traditional distribution deals while participating in this project.

[tags]hd dvd, independent film[/tags]

Think about this one! It is short, but very interesting!

• A car company can move its factories to Mexico and claim it’s a free market.

• A toy company can outsource to a Chinese subcontractor and claim it’s a free market.
• A shoe company can produce its shoes in southeast Asia and claim it’s a free market.
• A major bank can incorporate in Bermuda to avoid taxes and claim it’s a free market!
• We can buy printers made in Mexico.
• We can buy shirts made in Bangladesh
• We can purchase almost anything we want from 20 different countries.
• BUT, heaven help the senior citizens who dare to buy their prescription drugs from a Canadian or Mexican pharmacy. That’s called un-American!
• And you think the pharmaceutical companies don’t have a powerful lobby?

Think again!

[tags]old age, pharmaceuticals, politics[/tags]

But for those of you who may have missed some of (the writer of this episode and series creator) Chase’s tactics for last night’s finale, then let me help you out (spoiler alert):

1. The subplot of terrorism was a commentary on a public gone pop crazy while we have terrorists on the loose and incompetent public officials. See, gangsters are not the problem right now.

2. Chase further drove this home by driving you crazy with a blank screen and no music.
3. The cat thing was an ode to Poe where he often had the murder victim come back in some form to reveal their murderer (usually a body behind a wall).
4. He didn’t kill off his hero! Tony was basically a family guy (and fictional) who took care of business and far too many anal retentive people wanted him to die! Brilliant!

Meadow and the whole parallel parking thing was symbolic of her trying to get her life together as a young person (three mistakes and then she parks perfectly. I think everything else is pretty straightforward, meaning that it is what you saw or left open for you to fill in the blanks. But more important…Tony lived! Yeah!)

Chase is a prankster and wanted to have a little fun. Anyone notice the opening song that was played throughout the episode? It was Vanilla Fudge’s 1967 psychedelic/hard rock remake of the 1966 The Supreme’s Motown hit, “You Keep Me Hanging On.” Talk about a foreshadow! He lets you decide how it ends. The jingle at the door could have been Meadow or it could have been a hitman. You decide. I thought it was an excellent finish that could possibly leave an opening for a movie.

Although this is a mob story, this is more a story about the characters, the dynamics of their everyday existence. Essentially Chase has created a series that examines several unknowns. The show deals with psychology. What do we really know about the capabilities and limitations of the human mind? The show deals with death and the afterlife… dreams… omerta, the list can go on and on. What I gathered from the last episode was that the unknown is constant. We don’t know when and we don’t know how, but we do know that someday the villain we all root for will meet his match, and even then the family will prevail.

Movie or no movie, survivors or no survivors, from day one the show was about how the moral bankruptcy of the individuals enabled the entire operation to chug along. Tony decapitating Ralphie; Carmella’s pitiful rationalizations; Meadow’s phony desire to seek social justice; Janice’s efforts to steal from Junior. The individual acts of selfishness perpetuate the collective evil. As much as Tony is everyman - what with his rebellious kids, depression, physical compulsions and more - at the end of the day he he had a sense of entitlement when it came to the rest of the world.

To me, the scene that best reflected Tony’s insatiable desire to maintain this existence where he could act however he wished whenever he wished was when he convinced Paulie to take the job, even after Paulie claimed to have seen the Virgin Mary. Tony didn’t deny that Paulie saw the Virgin Mary. He just made him feel that it didn’t matter. Now that’s manipulation. Better yet, that’s great writing and film making.

Maybe when the DVD comes out they will include a few more seconds at the diner - as a way to sell a few million DVDs. I for one will own it.

[tags]hbo, sopranos, tv[/tags]

I have always used my PSP as an MP3 player and video device. It also allowed me to play those “sillly” games I like. Until Sony decides to add a cell phone to the PSP, I think the iPhone may just be the product to help me give some of my hard-earned money to Apple.

I use my cell phone at least 600 minutes a month. I don’t wear a watch because my cell is always on my person and always has the correct time. I currently use a Moto RaZr, possibly the worst phone I have ever carried. The RaZr has the worst software of any phone I have ever used (except my old bag phone from 1986).

I have tried the Windows Mobile and PocketPC phones, and was disappointed that my tired old eyes had a problem with the teeny-tiny text.

My first attempt was a Cingular 8125. That lasted all of three days. Adjusting font size to create a readable text made it just about unusable. The second try was a Blackjack - the text seemed better, but the screen was just too small.

For those of you who have a Windows Mobile Phone, try this iPhone emulator.

So, that leaves me with the iPhone. It seems to be well laid out, with a good font size, easy to use, and with a built-in video iPod to boot.

• Get the iPhone specs here

• The Official Apple IPhone site
• A YouTube closer look at the iPhone
• SNL skit on Steve Jobs and the iPhone

It has been reported that with a two-year service agreement you may be able to get this for $299, not a bad deal if you don’t mind the contract.

So are you going to join me on the 29th and make Apple a little happier and our wallets a little lighter?

[tags]iphone, apple, youtube[/tags]

From the etree site:

Welcome to the Live Music Archive. etree.org is a community committed to providing the highest quality live concerts in a lossless, downloadable format. The Internet Archive has teamed up with etree.org to preserve and archive as many live concerts as possible for current and future generations to enjoy. All music in this collection is from trade-friendly artists and is strictly noncommercial, both for access here and for any further distribution. Artists’ commercial releases are off-limits. This collection is maintained by the etree.org community.

I spoke of Dave Matthews Band: their concert recordings are available at antsmarching.org. This is a community that cares about their recordings, some of the best “fan quality” concert recordings I have ever heard are of Dave Matthews. Bonnaroo fans can get some of the stage recordings here.

Many of the sites, including bt.etree.org/ (lots of Grateful Dead at that site) have gone to sharing files via BitTorrent. If you don’t mind running a BitTorrent client (I suggest Azureus), get busy enjoying these concerts.

If you enjoy live music, visit these sites, download a few concerts from artists you enjoy or better yet, try someone new, broaden your horizons. I certainly have.

Here is a great story about the tech involved in music downloading, flac, shn, mp3, etc.

[tags]music, download music[/tags]

I would gladly own a TiVo Series 3 HD unit if the price were anywhere near reasonable. $799 is ridiculous; you can buy one for nearly $400 from Amazon right now, but that is still too much money. Whoever advised the company this was a good price range to play in was an idiot.

Zatznotfunny.com has a story about the latest TiVo earnings conference call and announcements made by the CEO.

My opinion is that a TiVo branded box would be preferable to Comcast or another provider. With updates coming from TiVo they are quicker and better managed. I would be willing to pay in the neighborhood of $250-$299, right around the cost of my first ReplayTV box several years back. I would expect it to be nearly as feature rich as the current S3, however, it would not to be as pretty.

You probably asked why I still have my Series 2 boxes if I have Comcast DVRs? I called TiVo to cancel and it gave me several months free - the rep said I may be pleasantly surprised this summer - we shall see?

[tags]tivo, tivo series 3[/tags]