So, I was strolling through Target last Friday and, being the penny pincher that I am (sometimes) I kept an eye open for that little red price tag that signifies that something is on clearance. Well, over in the electronics department, I spied this gadget sitting on a shelf in the digital picture frames aisle.  Curious, I picked up a box.  The box contained something really interesting and at an interesting price.  The device is basically a digital photo frame without the screen.  Your television is the screen.  The device accepts most popular memory card formats, including the funky and little used Sony memory stick.  The device can display slideshows made up of your photos and playing your mp3 files.  It handles jpegs, mp3’s and video in the form of Motion-JPEG.  From what I can tell, divx encoded files play as well, but with varying results.  MJPEG is a funky codec that lives in AVI containers.  I’ve had a hard time finding encoders that are free.  I used to have one in the form of Showshifter, a DVR like software package for Windows.  Showshifter used MJPEG for it’s native format.  The big advantage was that it worked on low powered machinges.  I used it in a VIA MicroITX based computer I put together.  This thing ran at a gigahertz and less than a gig of ram, using an ATI TV Wonder.  Pretty amazing.  (What that meant was a crappy under powered computer with little ram and a bad tv tuner that was less than a wonder.)

The device has component video out and is, supposedly capable of 480p/720p/1080i.  Composite is less than 480.  Video quality is a mixed bag and depends on your source.  The basic menuing system looks really bad.  I thought something was wrong.  However, I remember that this is Digital Decor and the menuing system is nearly identical to the menuing system in the digital frames they sell.  The photo slideshow, on the otherhand, looked pretty good.  Photos taken with my Nikon D40X looked great. Photos taken on my Moto Q looked appropriately bad.  The few videos that I got to play on the device looked about like they would on the computer.  MP3 music played just fine. 

The device is small and come with a remote control.  Priced at $24.95  9.95 at Target on clearance, it is a pretty decent deal.  It normally went for fifty, which, I think, is a bit much for what it does.

I do a lot of browsing and see lots of weird and odd things.  Below are a few of those things I have seen recently that made say ‘What the ____?’

• Seattle’s latest football team: the Mist.  The Mist is a female football team. So what, you ask.  Well, what’s different here is that the ladies play the game in LINGERIE!  It is an offshoot of the Lingerie football games played during the Superbowl.  While I am that this is a real eye opener for some, it just left me saying what the?  Read the details here.
• In the ‘if you can’t beat em’ file:  Sony is rumored to be using the same Cell processor in the successor to the PS3, the PS4 (those very clever marketing people at Sony, innovation starts there.) Speculation is that Sony is going the Nintendo route and focus on innovation in game play.  Right. My guess is they are just going to rebadge that large inventory of PS3’s they cannot sell.
• This is the ‘you’ve got to be kidding me’ segment…iTunes could shut down?  While I really doubt the fruit company would shut down THE ONLY reason to buy an iPod at those ridiculous prices only to have the bloody things obsoleted six months later, it is, nonetheless, a possibility.  The reason?  The music publishers.  Plain and simply, they want a much bigger cut.  They’ve nearly shut down many independent web radio ‘stations’ and made it difficult for others.  They’ve gone after satellite radio.  You know, they are needy people and are having just a really hard time scraping by.  So, now, your digital downloads-which are already overpriced-could get a lot more expensive.  After all, Rolex watches are not free.
• Speaking of the company of fruit…here’s one of the best uses of the iPhone:
• In a stunning turn of events, man’s abuse of the environment brings back an extinct species of goldenrod weeds.  In New York, a long thought-to-be-extinct weed, a salt-marsh goldenrod, was found to be flourishing along the roads of New York.  The weed is thought to have been growing due to salty runoffs of road treatments in the winter months.  It was found growing along the road and from cracks in the pavement, where other weeds, seemingly, cannot live.  Huh.  So, our need to drive in bad weather brought back another weed.  Great.

So, one day last week, I went to a luncheon to celebrate the forthcoming birth of a co-worker’s third child.  We all gathered at a local Richmond ‘hot’ spot, a decent little place in downtown Richmond.  Not too long after the waitress brought me my tea, she comes back and tells us that the sign on the front of the building was sparking and that we had to evacuate the building.  A coworker asks ‘so, you want us to go out the front door, UNDER the sign?’  The waitress looked like she had just had an epiphany.  She then, rather astonishingly, says ‘well, yeah’.  We just looked at each other.  Surely, this was a joke.  Nope, about then, other staff are going around explaining the situation to others in the area and, also at that same moment, we could hear sirens.  So, we shrug and get up. As we are proceeding to the front of the restaurant, we notice that no one else is leaving, so we stop.  The waitress then asks us to wait a minute.  We see a couple of firemen go through the building and then we are told that we can return to our seats.  So we do. Another of my co-workers wanted photos of the firemen and truck, so she goes outside.

Several minutes pass and our food starts to trickle back.  I call my co-worker and tell her that our food was coming.  She said ‘ok, maybe they will let me back in now.’  WHAT?  As it turns out, the sign was actually on fire.  Several minutes later, she returned and showed us the photos on her camera.  Mind you, this was not a significant fire but, still, it was a bit disconcerting that: we were initially asked to leave through the same exit that happened to be under the sparking/flaming sign; they let my coworker out DURING the event; that we stayed in the building while part of it was flaming.  Now, I’m not bad mouthing the restaurant nor the firemen, but the whole thing was just ODD.  We did enjoy our lunch, though my burger was a bit charred.  Coincidence?

Normally, they say third time is the charm.  For SpaceX, it was the fourth time that was the charm.  Sunday’s launch was the first successful launch for the Falcon rocket.  The launch was the smoothest of the attempted launches, according to SpaceX.  The rocket carried a mock payload into orbit, where it will remain for five to ten years.  SpaceX says that commercial launches will cost about eight million dollars, less if the first stage of the rocket can be reused. 

The fifth flight, scheduled for early 2009, will carry it’s first paying customer’s satellite as well as a few smaller payloads.

You can read more about this stellar event here.

This past week, we lost Paul Newman to cancer.  The 83 year old actor was one of the few public figures that had an impact on my life, personally.  I never met him, was never a huge fan, though I did like many of his films, and never really thought much of him-good or bad-until about five years ago.  See, Mr. Newman was also a philanthropist.  He started several institutions that were designed to help people.  One of them, the Hole in the Wall Gang Camps, served as the model for the Victory Junction Gang Camps that was founded by the Petty’s of NASCAR fame.  Mr. Newman’s camps, the first established in 1988, were for children who were ill.  There, the children were just ‘normal’ kids doing things that most kids would do at a camp: swimming, climbing, just being kids.  The difference, though, is that there were people who could care for the children and the visits were not a burden to the families either…the visits were free for the kids.  Mr. Newman, according to many stories, would show up at the camp in Connecticut and have a meal with the kids or participate in some activity with the kids.  Of course, most of the children had no clue as to who he was and he, apparently, relished his anonymity while he was with them.  To them, he was just some old guy who was nice to them.

In 1999, Kyle Petty’s son, Adam, had visited one of the camps and decided that was something he wanted to do too.  So, he took his idea to his dad and they set out to start working on the project.  Unfortunately, a racing accident took Adam’s life only a few months later. Kyle and his wife Pattie took the idea and decided to make it a reality.  Over the next five years, they raised money and gained corporate support to found and build the camp.  They partnered with Mr. Newman’s camps and used them as the model to not only build and run the camp, but also how to get support for it as well.  Built on land donated by Richard Petty, the camp opened in June of 2004.  My son, who had been diagnosed with an immunodeficiency disorder several years before, attended the camp four times as a camper, twice during the family weekends and twice for a full week.  While there, he was just a regular kid along with the others. 

I am personally grateful to the Petty’s and to Mr. Newman.  With the generosity of Paul Newman way back in 1988, a series of events were set in motion that directly affected my and my family.  There is no way I could repay any of them for joy they brought to my son-and us, in turn-for those two weeks and two weekends just a short time ago.

Mr. Newman’s good will went much further than the camps.  When he lost his son to drugs in 1978, he founded the Scot Newman Center to help fight drug abuse.  His various food companies regularly donate millions of dollars to various charities and set an example in the corporate world. He was a larger than life personality with a larger than life heart to match.

Just received notice that the Marketplace and all of Zune.net, including the social and the forums will be down for upto 48 hours beginning Monday, September 29, 2008.  Scheduled maintenance is the reason.

So, I’ve been eyeing the used XBOX consoles at Gamestop for several months.  They have them for $49 (US) used.  Each console comes with a controller, cables, power cord and the console.  Well, today, I took the plunge and purchased the console, five games and an extra controller for about eighty bucks ($84, to be exact.)  So, I get this thing home and unbox it.  OH MY.  Now, I was not expecting to find a pristine console packed like it was new.  But, I WAS expecting to find a console that was free from defects and CLEAN. While the console was in good shape, no scratches, cracks or otherwise and it does work just fine (the drive door needs a bit of a nudge to move, but otherwise works) it was FILTHY.  The included controller looked as though it had been plucked out of a pile of dirt.  It took me fifteen minutes just to clean the one controller.  If this thing were at a yard sale, I probably would have offered to take it from them for five dollars.  We’ve purchased used gear from Gamestop in the past and always had good luck with what we’ve bought and it was, usually, pretty clean.  However, the last couple of years have seen the care of reselling the hardware go out of the window. Again, I’m not expecting something like a used XBOX from Gamestop to look brand new, but, again, I do expect it to be clean.  This is just absurd.  Imagine if this had been a Christmas present to someone.  They eagerly open it only to find a dirty console and a controller that looks like it would be at home in Oscar the grouch’s bedroom.

EB Games used to always clean their consoles and used games.  The N64 cartridges would be in pretty good shape and in boxes.  CD’s for games almost always had a book and the original jewel case and the few that did not had a new jewel case and label.  When EB was bought by Gamestop, that all went out of the window.  Like I said, Gamestop USED to at least clean the consoles.  I guess they just can’t be bothered now that they are pretty much the only used game retailer around or they can’t afford Windex and paper towels.

Here are some things that have caught my eyes this week, in no particular order:

• Jack Thompson, video game foe, has been disbarred.  This is one lawyer who won’t be practicing law again.  Thompson took every opportunity he could find to try to have games either banned or severely curtailed. He is responsible for dozens of laws getting written and passed only to have them challenged and struck down as unconstitutional.  He would use tragic events like the Virginia Tech shooting and try, desperately, to link them to a game-whatever game was popular and had some kind of violence as part of the gameplay. His targets included the Grand Theft Auto series and other similar games.  I’m sure this is not the end of his venom, it just won’t have as much oomph.
• The shine has dulled on Chrome.  The ‘browser’ from google has lost some of it’s luster.  Many of it’s early supporters/users/people who went nuts over it have returned to Interenet Explorer, Firefox or whatever real browser they used.  Still, more people seem content with half a browser than with Opera.  Personally, a day at the Opera beats gaudy Chrome anytime.
• The Android,  Data came to life this week.  Ok, so Data remains in the guise of Brent Spiner but google’s Android platform for smartphones was unleashed on an unsuspecting world in the form of T-Mobile’s G1 phone made by HTC.  While it has yet to achieve sentience, the platform is online.  Much has been written, so I think I will just stop and let the Asimov jokes fly.
• Apple gets serious about criticism about it’s draconian App Store.  Apple has a very restrictive NDA (non-disclosure agreement) that would be developers must agree to just to be able to develop for iPhoney.  Among it’s restrictions are: developers are not allowed to discuss the sdk or how to use it with OTHER DEVELOPERS and not to reveal when their apps are rejected.  Say WHAT? Ok, the restriction about discussing development with other developers is bad enough, but now you cannot even say when your great app is rejected?  That’s just utter poop.  A big steaming pile of poop.  I guess all of the negative press surrounding the rejection of apps like Podcatcher was just too much for Stevo (some refer to him as HIM) to take so the lawyers amended the NDA.  This is just ridiculous.  However, I doubt it is enough to hamper developers.  When people like Alex Lindsey make comments like “they say no, I say well, what can we do that won’t make them mad” then Apple has nothing to worry about. Oh, it could also be that $250,000 that one little game has pulled in.
• Electronic Arts has amended it’s absurd DRM for Spore.  Bowing to pressure, presumably, EA has altered the DRM scheme a bit and now you can install the game a whopping five times instead of three.  They also claim to be coming up with a mechanism to allow you to de-authorize a computer.  I’m sorry, but this is still not enough.  They are still assuming that I am a thief.  They need to rip out the DRM completely.  It is absurd.  The bloody game is fifty dollars and you HAVE to have an active internet connection just to install the darn thing.  I should have returned it.

According to the HRP website, they are only closed for the season.  HRP Holdings filed for Chapter 11 reorganization today.  That signifies an attempt to restructure it’s business and re-open.  Chapter 11 is a process that a company can follow that allows it to stay in business while working with creditors and restructuring it’s debt.  All under the supervision of the court…and, trust me, they need all of the supervision they can get.  I wrote about a visit to the park back in August where there were far more employees than guests.  Probably three to five staffers to every guest-not a good sign.  To be fair to them, the economy was against them.  High gas prices, lower than normal tourism in Myrtle Beach, people staying home, etc. all contributed to a bleak season.  It did not help that the locals, apparently, did not like the park. 

According to the posting, there will be no further staff reductions and all ‘non-seasonal employees will continue to receive their paycheck on a normal schedule.’  They also state they are not going out business and they intend to open in 2009.

I hope so.  I really like the park.  It is small, but not too small and has a good amount of rides.  They need to lower the admission price just a tad to attract more people.  My son liked it too and would like to go back.  The ferris wheel roller coaster is a blast and Nights in White Satin is, well, let’s just say it’s very trippy and I want to experience it again.  For the effects, of course.

Hard Rock Park Chapter 11 FAQ

Thanks, Microsoft.  I could not wait to get those three Dreamscene’s and that somewhat interesting Tinker game and the Tinker game sound pack.  Yeah, that’s nice. 

So, like I am still getting my Vista 32 setup and realized that I was running SP1. So, I brought up the Windows Update applet and, to my amazement, it said there were three ultimate extras available.  Well, I was a bit amazed.  I went ahead and let it install all updates but those language packs.  SP1 took, maybe, fifteen minutes.  After the reboot, went to Friendfeed to see what Thurrot said about the extras.  Of course, and rightfully so, he was not impressed.  At least he listed what they were (I could have found out, but Paul’s writing is more interesting that Windows Update.)

The three Dreamscene’s are actually one video, just taken at different times:  daytime, twilight and dusk.  Interesting video and I have one of the on my desktop right now.

The sound pack is just sounds from the game, which is mildly entertaining.  I looks nice and the game play is interesting, but none of this really feels like an ‘Ultimate’ extra.  Maybe I am expecting too much.  Actually, I am expecting new content at least every month—which is what was originally inferred when I bought Ultimate. 

I suppose I should be happy that we are getting ANYTHING at all.  This is one aspect of Vista (with the SideShow the other) that has really disappointed me.  I have learned from this, I’ll not buy something from Microsoft again that makes promises like this and then utterly fails to deliver.

Microsoft updated it’s Pro Photo Tools to version 2.  This version features the ability to handle RAW files and better geotagging.

New in Microsoft Pro Photo Tools 2

• Support for reading and writing metadata to/from XMP side cars so that metadata will interoperate with Adobe products. This is in addition to reading and writing from the file.
• Users can convert from RAW to JPEG, TIFF, and HD Photo using "As Shot" settings. This includes the ability to resize the image.
• Users can view actual RAW image in addition to thumbnails
• Support for 64-bit Windows
• Support for international locales
• Improved UI for geotagging

Read more and grab the application here.

Just saw this on Paul Thurrot’s SuperSite Blog.  It is a short post about a new beta application from Microsoft. It appears to be from the Live team, but it is not part of the Live suite.  It is an application that helps you backup the data on your Windows Mobile smartphone.  Called Phone Data Manager, it looks fairly easy to setup and use and does just what it advertises.  You can read more here and here (which is also where you can dowwnload it.)  It only supports Vista 32 and XP 32. 

Speaking of Paul Thurrot, if you do not follow him and are a Windows enthusiast or just interested in things Microsoft (and Apple, as it affects Microsoft) then you should follow Paul on his SuperSite Blog and FriendFeed.  He’s interesting person and very opinionated.  He often infuriates me with some of his opinions, but, at the end of the day, I can appreciate what he says as he almost always has valid points and actually uses logic when arriving at his conclusions. 

Microsoft’s Live team does not seem to get any sleep.  They just release a beta of Live Wave 3 which includes new versions of Mail, Photo Gallery, Messenger and, new to the suite, Movie Maker.  The applications in the suite appear to be getting a UI make over, though, for the moment, it’s not all that polished.  Movie Maker does not seem complete. In fact, it missing most of the things that make it useful and easy to use.  It does, however, gain the Ribbon UI from Office 2007.  Mail gains tighter integration with Live Calendar and Live Hotmail. In fact, the suite comes with a connector to allow Outlook to connect to Live Hotmail.  There is also a new version of Live Writer.  I have not yet put these new versions through the paces, but I have taken a look at most of them and I am, in fact, using the Live Writer beta to write this post.

Live Writer has some nifty new features, including more options on image manipulation, authoring enhancements and an improved toolbar.  There are more features for formatting and posting.

Mail also has a few new features, including the aforementioned Live Calendar integration and UI improvements (which, to me, are very subtle.)  The thing that has always impressed me with the Live Mail application is it’s speed.  Outlook 2007, which is a really nice information manager as well as email client, tended to slow down, quite a bit.  I have yet to really experience that with Live Mail.

Photo Gallery has a few new options for posting your photos and also has a few UI tweaks as well.  There are more new features, but I have not yet explored them. 

The entire Live Suite is a tremendous set of applications and services and Microsoft deserves quite a bit more credit for them than they get.  These tools and services are mostly free and those that you pay for are very inexpensive.  The syncing abilities that Microsoft has been developing are simply the best around.  In fact, in my experience, the only application that beats Microsoft’s syncing abilities is IBM’s Domino and Lotus Notes product.

You can download the beta suite here.

Ok, so not long after I had upgraded my desktop Zune software and the device firmware, I began having problems.  The device was not getting recognized, the software was SLOW and my machine, in general, just started having problems.  Ok, well it was not like it tanked after the install.  I’ve had some small issues ever since I switched back to AVG from Live Onecare.  Anyway, I uninstalled the Zune software and proceeded to re-install, as per a post I saw on the Zune.net forums.  Needless to say, it failed.  In fact, the message I got-and for EVERY subsequent attempt-was that the software INSTALLED was up to date.  Problem was, there was no software installed.  I tried several times over an afternoon.  At one point, again, per an forum post from someone at Microsoft I think, I performed a hard reset.  Well, that wiped out the device.  Fortunately, I have a laptop with the software installed so I was able to bring the device back to life.  I then booted into Vista 64 and installed the software there.  Not only did it install without a hitch, it’s REALLY fast.  Vista 64 is nice and quick too.  My problem is that I still run some apps that do not appreciate Vista 64’s goodness so I still use Vista 32 as my primary OS.  At this point, and also after booting back to the primary OS and waiting almost ten minutes before I could do anything, I decided it was time for an OS reboot.  After contemplating the purchase of a really large hard drive, I decided to just clean off one of my existing drives and install Vista 32 there.  At this point, I decided the problems I was having were NOT due to the Zune software but to a flaky install of Vista.  Over the last several months, I’ve installed lots of beta software, including Internet Explorer 8.  That these problems really started to show after I switched back to AVG is just a coincidence, I think.  It was also around that same time that the new beta two of IE came out, I put that junk called Chrome on my PC, the whole MobileMEss stuff where I had to crapify the PC, etc.  So, there’s all these things that, I think, collectively, doomed my PC.  Actually, it’s not been bad.  I had a ton of crap on here and there is also a bunch of old apps that I just don’t use.  So, this has turned into something good.

Re-installing Vista on a different drive was a snap.  I think it took a total of 45 minutes from start to finish of the initial install and then another hour just updating the bloody thing.  During the update time, I was able to install the Zune software with out a hitch.  Of course, now there were FOUR installations and Zune Pass only works on three-a fact I did not know about until yesterday (Friday) when I watched a podcast put out by members of the Zune Team.  De-authorizing a computer is a SNAP, easier than in iTunes.  All I had to do was, and you can do this from any computer that has the Zune software installed, log in to my account and goto SETUP-ACCOUNT and I could see the list of authorized computers.  I found the now useless Vista 32 install and clicked remove.  Once you do that, you simply sync the device to the new installation and you get to take advantage of your account again.  Easy.

I’m not done yet, I still have lots of things to install again, including iTunes for the iPod that my wife and son share.  That’s ok.  I’m back in Vista/Zune bliss.  Now I am getting familiar with the new Live suite. Hmm, that’s beta stuff…I guess some people never learn.

Not to be shown up by Microsoft, Apple, apparently, made a last minute update to the Nano line by including the 16gb model.  AppleInsider is reporting that several Apple stores received marketing material that only listed the 4gb and 8gb models and at the older price points of $149 and $199.  Just prior to last Tuesday announcement of the new line, Microsoft released information on the new Zunes.  The new Zunes were in capacities of 4gb, 8gb and 16gb for the flash versions (120gb for the hdd version) and priced at $129, $149 and $199.  Speculation is that Steve Jobs did not want to get shown up by Microsoft and decided on the 16gb version at the last minute. 

Apple sent messages out saying that the 16gb would be delayed by a few days due to ‘high demand.’

If the reason behind the 16gb model is true, and I suspect it is, then I doubt the ‘high demand’ claim.  No, it is probably more due to the ramping up of production than any thing else.

AppleInsider article

Microsoft announced ‘phase II’ of it’s new advertising campaign and, at the same time, said that the series of ads featuring Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld are done for now.  The second phase (what about those ‘mojave’ ads?) will be a more direct campaign and directly attack Apple’s ‘I’m a Mac…I’m a PC’ ads.  Indeed, the first will feature a Microsoft employee who bears a striking similarity to PC (John Hodgeman) in those same Apple ads.  I’m not sure this approach will work, but has to be better received than the two Gates and Seinfeld ads over the last couple of weeks.  Admittedly, while I was more receptive to them than most, Microsoft has probably cut its losses by ash-canning the ads. 

The first new ad airs during the Office on NBC tonight (Sept 18, 2008).

Well, yesterday Microsoft released the fall updates to Zune.  Along with new players, they released new desktop software and device firmware.  The new firmware works on ALL Zunes, from the 30gb on up.  I downloaded the software and had it installed on both the desktop and device in about a half hour.  The desktop software is a big improvement over the previous versions.  It feels snappier and does not bog down my computer like version 2 so often did.  The software contains numerous improvements, some are very subtle while others are quite noticeable.  For example, there is now an option to allow a manual sync, where you would add and remove content individually-something that many had asked for.  Likewise, a more obvious change is the addition of channels.  Channels are customized playlists.  There are canned channels from the Marketplace as well as some of Microsoft’s music partners.  There are also channels that are tailored to your musical taste.  For me, the feature seems to work well, but I’ve only played with it a short time. Another visible change is the addition of the Mix View.  Mix View takes the currently playing track and displays similar music-either music influenced by the playing track or group or that influenced them.  This also seems to work well and seems to be a great way to find new music.  It works best if you have a Zune Pass.  The overall GUI seems a bit sharper and there are quite a few graphical enhancements.  It looks great.

The Marketplace has a new feature called ‘Picks’.  Picks, like Mix View and your custom channels, is a place where you can find music that is, again, tailored to your tastes.  I’m a bit concerned that it put Jordin Sparks in a big photo on my page.  While I have nothing against her personally, I cannot remember ever listening to her music and did not think my taste reflected her style.  Hmm…

One thing I have noticed is that the new software takes ALOT of memory.  Way more than I ever noticed before.  As long as it works, I’m ok with it.

An interesting thing I noticed for the device setup under conversion, was a setting to optimize videos for the device or for television playback from the device.  I have not yet connected the Zune to my TV to see if it makes any difference.  Gonna try that later.

The device firmware has many subtle changes and a few big changes.  The biggest change is the ability to purchase and download musical content wirelessly.  It is about time they added this feature.  Where’s the browser?  Other big changes include games and FM tagging.  FM tagging requires local radio stations be broadcasting a special signal that contains meta data about the station and currently playing song.  Clear Channel has pledged support as have several other radio station owners.  This feature, while implemented in Zune, is not unique to Zune.  RDS has been around for awhile now.  I think Microsoft may be the first company to utilize in this manner.  The games include Hexic and Texas Hold ‘em Poker.  Poker is very cool and surprising easy to use.

The firmware now includes a clock, though you have to set it manually-which I found just odd.  But, it is there and that should placate many Zune users. Other smaller additions include full descriptions for podcasts, multiple network setup (necessary for hotspot use), your Zune card can now be sent to friends, send podcasts (this might have available before, I don’t recall), a played status and you are told if you have subscribed to the podcast or not.

There are many more features in both the PC software and the new firmware.  Overall, I think the changes are for the better and Microsoft has hit a home run with them.

Stay tuned for my post on my POST UPGRADE WOES.  What an adventure that was/is.

For the next week, you can grab selected episodes of your favorite NBC Universal programs for free.  The programs include Battlestar Galactica and the Office.  They appear to be the same shows and episodes that are currently available on iTunes.  Get them while you can.  The video quality is pretty good and the price is right.

This story on ZuneThoughts talks about a deal that Microsoft has entered into that allows Zune owners to be able to use the wifi hotspots in over 9800 McDonald’s restaurants.  Users can use the highspeed connections to purchase and download tracks from the Zune Marketplace.  This is a delicious turn of events, eh?

The new Zunes, Zune Marketplace software and Zune 3 firmware was released today and WOW!  I’m still going through it all, but, so far, color me impressed. The single best new feature is the wireless marketplace.  Being able to browse the marketplace and then purchase or, with Zunepass, just download all the music you want is pretty dang cool.  Unfortunately, there seems to be no way to wirelessly get the TV programs or podcast's.  So far, it is just for the music, but it is a start.  Other new features include a clock that I hope will quiet everyone on the Zune.net forums.  It had to be one of the most requested features.  One I never quite understood.  Whatever.  There is also the FM Tagging, though I have not able to try it. Games are new with this update and you get Hexic and Texas Hold em Poker.  I’ve not played the poker game yet, but Hexic seems fun.

Microsoft made some UI changes on the device, but they are very subtle.  For example, when listening to a podcast, you can press the middle of the navigation pad (called the squircle on Zune 2 and 3) and bring up a menu. In addition to the options that were already there, you can now get the full description.  Small, but useful.

The desktop software looks and, seemingly, works far better than Zune 2 did.  It ‘feels’ a bit snappier and has more visuals incorporated in it.  For example, when playing music, a visualization displays along the bottom of the screen.  Again, a subtle change but it makes the overall experience better.  This software is so good that I would most likely use it even if I did not own a Zune device.  It is a great media player/organizer.  Oh, for those who are concerned about such things, it still has the silly ‘heart, broken heart, no heart’ rating system.  Why we need to rate this stuff is beyond me.

I’ll have a more complete look at the package in the next day or so.