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I’ve been contemplating whether or not to get one of the new TiVo Series 3 (high-def w/ dual-tuner support). The motivation is centered on all the issues I’ve been having with the Comcast DVR. I had to have it replaced about a month ago because it had stopped recording ANY shows (the whole purpose of having a DVR right?) and since it likes to reset itself frequently (typically during prime time). It also likes to frequently freeze in fast-forward mode — doesn’t sound that awful but it is (it’ll fast forward through the rest of the show during which you get spoilers into upcoming scenes). The only thing that’s been holding me back on the TiVo is all the horror stories with dealing with the cable companies on getting the TiVo setup. Given the new series 3 acts as a digital decoder it requires a couple of CableCards (one for each tuner) which “authorizes” the device with the cable provider as to which content you’re allowed to receive. If you read the ‘TiVo Community’ message boards you’ll realize what a task it can be to obtain the CableCards. There are posts indicating some cable providers (Comcast included) have refused to provide the cards citing they’re only allowed to install the cards in televisions. The FCC mandates that they provide the cards for any Cable Labs certified device (TiVo included) though I have no motivation to have to deal with a bunch of bureaucracy.  I’ve also seen posts indicating that if they do agree to provide the cards that professional installation is typically required – costing anywhere from $17 to $70; in addition the on-going costs have been quoted anywhere from both cards being free upwards to $15/month. After reading everyone else’s experiences there’s no wonder I had no idea what to expect. So before making the investment on the TiVo I wanted to ensure that I’ll be able to use it without getting raped on installation and monthly fees – so I on Thursday I headed down to the Comcast office in Redmond to see what it was going to cost — I walked out less than 5 minutes later with two CableCards in hand…at no cost. 

So I decided to make the leap and have placed an order for the unit (I couldn’t find any locally) and it should be here by Wednesday… more to come later once it’s in hand and setup.

If you didn’t already know my last MP3 player (30GB Dell Jukebox) was stolen when my car got broken into a several weeks ago. I’ve been holding out on replacing it in anticipation for the release of the Microsoft Zune.

Well with an official launch date of November 14th that time is nearly here — ok, so it’s still well over a month out but that’s not the point — the point is that I’ve secured mine, have you?

“Zune 30 GB Digital Media Player (Black)”
Electronics; $249.99

 Sold by: Amazon.com 

Shipping estimate for these items:  November 14, 2006
Delivery estimate:  November 15, 2006

I highly believe Microsoft can provide some firm competition with the Zune although it’ll be some time before it can be determined whether this venture is a success or a failure. It’ll be very interesting to see how well it’s adopted into a market that is already monopolized by Apple’s iPod brand. One feature I’m personally looking forward to in the Zune that the iPod lacks is it’s built it FM tuner. I ride the bus most mornings and it’d be nice to be able to dial in to the local morning shows and yet still have the ability to pull up other media content.

Today Google released their latest technology – “Google Transit”. Given the time this has been under development in their technology labs — I’m definitely not impressed and frankly I’m surprised they would have made the technology public in its current state.

A couple first impressions:

• They reference the Sound Transit routes as King County Metro; for instance the application will state “Take the King County Metro 545 (EAST)”. I know this sounds like a cosmetic detail but you need to understand that the Sound Transit and Metro buses look completely different. Yes you can still determine the bus by the route number but if you’re anything like me I typically don’t keep an eye out for a Metro bus when I’m expecting a Sound Transit bus and vice versa.
• The local interface (click on Seattle on the main Transit page) is just flat out not intelligent. This page asks for your starting location and destination, if I enter my address (1301 4th Ave) it pops up a bunch of “Did you mean:” choices — all of which are located in the UK! Given I’m on the local Seattle page — perhaps I meant “1301 4th Ave, Seattle WA” and not a location in London, Westminster, Queensbury, or even Bristol.
• The logic determining the most efficient route is just as intelligent as the local interface. It gives me two types of routes when planning a trip from my address up to Eastlake. First it suggests that I take either the 72 or 73 express route up to the University of Washington (which is out of the way) and then backtrack with route 70. The same could have been accomplished by taking the 70 directly from my starting location, eliminating the need for a transfer and would get me to the destination in ~15 minutes rather than ~40 minutes. The alternative it suggests is route 55 up Aurora Ave. (Hwy 99) to Halladay St. and then walk ~23 minutes across Lake Union. I’ll be sure to give this route a try one of these days that I want to perfect my walking on water skills.
• Another disappointment it that the site only offers route planning (i.e. how to get from point A to point B). I would have expected an extended feature set similar to what Bus Monster (http://www.busmonster.com) already provides.

Overall in the first five minutes this leaves a lot to be desired and if I were Google I would be ashamed to have released it in its current form. As a hard core user of the local bus system - I will not be using this site for some time to come.

So I’ve begun the process of posting my pictures from my recent adventures. Rather tahn maintaining a local gallery on this site I’ve chosen to use that whiz-bang “Flickr!” service. It’s not a shabby service at all, you should check it out…

The link to my Flickr! site is in the links section, but you can also access it here.