25 posts tagged “me”

Ned Yost, the current (and one of the best) managers the of the (my hometown Milwaukee) Brewers, is, according to Brewers.com, a "tech geek".

He also owns an iPhone. Which, is pretty sweet. While it seems the local sports media goes nuts and calls for his head whenever the Brewers lose a game, I think Yost is one of the best ever to manage (not coach, thats an important difference in baseball) for the Brew Crew. I wouldn't mind seeing him end up coaching in Milwaukee for 10 or 15 years, like some managers in some teams.

What the local sports radio guys seem to forget, is that the Brewers haven't finish above .500 for a season in 15 years, and are currently in first with 3 wins above .500.

Ned was one of my favorite Brewers team members, and one of the best managers. His status has a 'tech geek', like me, has only solidified this. I am now a Ned Yost defender.

Go Brewers.

Once again, I changed the name of my blog. The San Francisco reference always made me uneasy, espcially after seeing my blog linked to from the QT3 forums, and the website voice360, which I mentioned a few posts ago.

I changed it to Tech Enough, which makes no sense, but has sort of a "unsaid cool" thing going for it, and doesn't sound messed up like my San Francisco reference.

This entry will be very, very meta.

A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog entry discussing a forum where (and I said) "a majority of developers, publishers, and journalists go to discuss the latest in video games."

I wrote the entry, simply because I had nothing to blog about recently, and I thought my friends would be impressed with my "l33t" skills in finding this "secret" message board. However, the LAST thing I ever expected happened. The people on these forums, found my message board.

Gary Whitta, the columnist who led me to the forums, was the one who posted my blog entry to the thread. It expanded to a five-page thread, where they made fun of me (I'm not offended, some of it was pretty funny), and ripped apart my impressions of the board.

After talking with one of my friends, I decided, that I needed to get on my board and reply to their comments and reveal myself to them. The message board has a system where you have to e-mail the admin and he has to approve your membership in order to post. I registered, and I'm currently waiting (However, I don't think he has plans to approve me).

Oh, the humanity.

PC Magazine has been a solid source of information since 1985, a good four years before I was even born. I've been a subscription holder for PC "Mag" for about 4 months, and a casual newsstand buyer for about a year before that. I'm noticing a startling trend.

In the February 13th issue, columnist Michael Miller announced that that issue's column would be his last, but he would still hold a 'columnist's blog' on the PC Mag site? The issue I got today, PC Mag's former editor-in-chief, Bill Machrone announced in his column that he also, was stepping now. However, he wasn't going to be given a blog and a link to it from the PC Mag columnist page, instead, all we know is that all his back-columns are going to be archived on PC Mag.com.

In Machrone's final column, he mentions the growing upset between internet tech media and print media. He's not alone. Ziff Davis, PC Mag's parent company, is attempting to sell the Game Group, which consists of two gaming magazines (Electronic Gaming Monthy and Games for Windows) and a "mega" website 1UP.com.

According to another blogger, 1UP.com is the crown jewel of the game group, with several hundred game-junkie teenagers who go there every day, and worship their editors with an almost cult-like following (which is only helped by 1UP's collection of weekly podcast and video podcasts, which, if intentional or not, promote the game journalists has hip, trendy, superstars).

However, the two print magazines, according to the blogger, are what is holding up MTV or a TelCo from grabbing up this lucrative "MySpace-meets-Gamespot" website. With PC Mag cutting down on its time-honored columnists, and ZD's game group being held down by two print magazines, is print media dead?

Don't forget, a few months ago I got all hot and bothered over 1UP's sale of the Official Playstation Magazine. It now appears, that ZD may have canceled that magazine to make the sale more lucrative to a potential buyer.

Is print media dead? Well, I don't think so. I enjoy reading magazines, and I currently get Ziff-Davis' Electronic Gaming Monthy and Future Publishing's PC Gamer, in addition to ZD's PC Mag. However, I appear to be in a majority.

Technology and gaming magazines are in a hard spot, because their target audience, is, quiet frankly, almost all high-end technology power users who spend most of their time on the internet. Why wait a month for a magazine to have old news when blogs, podcasts, and AJAX-powered headline RSS feeds can give you up to the minute information?

A few months back on an "EGM Live" podcast (on the 1UP Radio Network, a lovely name), Electronic Gaming Month's Dan "Shoe" Hsu said that he wanted to make his magazine's content more high-end. Maybe they'll have an exclusive interview with a rare Japanese video game developer, or have a special early review that even beats the internet.

However, Hsu was very honest, and admitted that the general stuff, like gaming news and most reviews, will be beat to consumers by the internet.

Hsu's not the only one that recognizes the advent of the internet age. PC Mag has almost ALL of its material that is in the magazine on its website, PCMag.com, even the highly-ancipated John C. Dvorak columns. And unlike the New York Times, the articles are printed in the whole, without the need to enter a subscription number, or register for their online service.

The only problem with PC Mag's strategy, is that, the information doesn't come up until the issue is published. So, its still a month-hold. The only thing worse than a magazine with old info, is a website with old info. Compared to CNET.com, PCMag.com might has well be from the stone ages.

I, personally, hope, this isn't the end of print media. No 24" LCD monitor or tablet PC can replicate the feel of that paper in your fingers. However, I think the battle is over. I am the only one of my gamer/tech junkie friends who pays for a tech or gaming magazine. The others wait for the info to hit the net.

In the case of exclusive interviews, my friends replied, "I'll just get the .pdf through BitTorrent."

Today was my first day back to school in 11 days (holiday break), and my eyes were really opened to two new tech revolutions. For the sake of entertainment, I've written them in skit-script style formatting. Both stories are true.

Morning Annoucement Lady: Mr. Hart is planning a school podcast to keep South students informed on activites and fun things to do in the school. If you would like to help in the podcast, please contact Mr. Hart at hart@school.edu.

Kid 1: Whats a podcast?

Me: Ah! The school finally has a podcast-...

Kid 2: Podwhat?

Girl: Pod...cast?

Teacher: Its some internet thing. I've seen it before in Newsweek.

Me: Ah, yes! Podcasts! Well, they're like internet radio. They're neat.

Girl: Podcast? Those dumb things in iTunes?

Kid 1: Whats a podcast?

Me: (sigh)

So, I guess podcasting isn't has mainstream has I hoped or thought. Has for helping with my school's podcast, I'm not really interested, even though it might be fun and provide good experience, plus I can play Leo and edit it up with some jazzy music. I'll have to give it thought.

The next one took place later. My friend Adam, carries around a CD player, and has always admired my iPod.

Adam: Hey Kev, guess what I got for Christmas.

Me: What? An iPod? Congrats man!

Adam: No, I got something better. Its called a Zune!

Me: Oh god, Adam, Zunes are....

Adam: No, its sweet. Its got 30 gigs, it has a big screen, and can play video.

Me: Yeah, but its ugly and big and-...

Adam: My brother has one too. We can trade songs!

Me: But, yeah, the DRM-...

Adam: They've even got this music store. I might buy some music instead of getting CD's.

I was very critical of the Zune when it came out, but now, I've changed my opinion. My friend Adam, who has never owned a MP3 player, buys CD's and rips them to MP3, and doesn't use iTunes, loves his Zune. Its fantastic for him. I think, in my power user mentality, I've written off the Zune. For me, getting a Zune would be horrible. I couldn't stand the DRM, I wouldn't use the URGE music store. However, my friend Adam, he loves it, and he talks about it the same way I talked about my iPod when I first got it.

This brings up a story, my Dad knows a commerical airline pilot. One time, at a football party, he complained and complained about flying an Airbus A320. He didn't like it, said the Airbus "handled like sh*t". But to us passengers, the Airbus A320 is no different from a Boeing 747. This must be what my friend Adam is experiancing. He loves his Zune, and can't tell the difference between the Zune and the iPod, but, his nerdy friend Kevin is going on and on about terms he doesn't know, like DRM, podcasting support, and other things.

To pilots and computer power users, the Airbus A320 and Zune are flawed. To passengers and my friend adam, they're just fine.

A lot of stuff has gone down since I last blogged, my friends. I am now running Linux, there is two iPods in my household, and neither of them is the one I originally had, and, I am a plant for Apple? What? More coming, in future blog entires.

I've changed the title of my Vox blog from "A Midatumn Tech Blog Classic," a play on the Baseball All-Star Game, to "1,827 Miles From The Golden Gates." The Golden Gates are of course, the Golden Gate Bridge, in San Francisco, and of course, the center of the technology world, and almost everything I write about. I find it fitting. I think I'll change my title once a quarter.

Just a note, in Wisconsin today, it was 6 degrees, with wind chill, it was -12, while, in San Francisco, it was a sunny 64 degrees. Hmmm, seems like Jamaica to me.

Hmmm, I knew there was a lot of socialist-types in Europe that believe that all human information should be free, but not like this...

Has you may know from my previous blog entries, in my US History class, we had to make a powerpoint with music in it. (See my struggles below with mine and DRM, which, according to a keen reader, apperantly aren't due to the DRM) Today, we presented these powerpoints, and the best one was done by a foreign exchange student.

I won't name him, but his powerpoint was good, and his piece of music was "Over The Rainbow". You know, not the Judy Garland one, but that other one sung by a man. The one that everybody knows, but can't recall it. They play in TV shows during funerals, but no one really knows. When everybody questioned the student about who did it, he said "Louis Armstrong". Everybody was pretty excited. A few kids yelled out getting it off Limewire. Even I, was enchanted about the song, and I planned to get it on iTunes. I look on the student's folder, and sure enough, the .mp3 is labeled "Over The Rainbow - Louis Armstrong.mp3".

So, I get home, and do a quick search on iTunes. "Over The Rainbow". Nothing by ol' Louie Armstrong. "Louis Armstrong". No Rainbow here. I'm confused, but then, it hits me. I boot up Frostwire, the open-source version of Limewire, and do a search for "over the rainbow louis armstrong" and sure enough, there it is. Lots of copies.

I go back to iTunes and put in a search for Over The Rainbow again. The most popular version is by a Hawaiian singer named Israel Kamakawiwo'ole. I use the preview feature and guess what... apparently, some years after his death, Louis Armstrong renamed himself Israel, and moved to Hawaii, gained 750 pounds (I.K. has he's known by his fans, was morbidly obese. He, himself died in '97, heart attack). </sarcasm>

This is not uncommon. When Napster was everywhere, and before we knew P2P sharing was a crime, I downloaded "Closing Time" by Green Day, only to find later that song was produced by Semisonic, not Green Day. There has been a few other songs like this, where on P2P sites are mislabeled.

So, I've caught the student in a crime. What do I do? Nothing. I won't even tell the teacher. Not only will this make me look like a super nerd and narc, the .mp3 was used for education purposes, which is under Fair Use. Not to mention, I think 95% of my US History class used pirated .mp3's for their presentations. Some, had the songs stream off of internet radio sites. Others, like me, brought in legal .mp3's.

So, I guess I'm left with a smug smile. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to listen to my legally purchased iTunes .mp4 verison of Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's "Over The Rainbow"....

I won't to pretend to be the one breaking the news that James Kim didn't make it. You probably read it else where. I'm saddened by it, since I really was praying that he would make it.

I actually don't remember seeing James Kim on TechTV when it was on, but then again, I didn't remember Robert Heron either. I was first introduced to him when I downloaded CNET's MP3 Insider podcast. Honestly, I didn't like the style of podcast, and I unsubscribed.

A month ago, when I was shopping for a MP3 player, I read James' review of the iPod G5. Fast forward to last week, in a "webisode" of CNET's Buzz Out Loud, Tom Merritt commented about how he had to fill into James Kim's usual post with Veronica Belmont on their MP3 Insider. I shrugged it off, and enjoyed the daily dose of BOL.

Then, I decided to come back to Vox by chance, actually, and saw that Leo updated his blog, and saw the entry about James, only 20 minutes after he posted it. Of course, James' name rang a bell, since Tom Merritt mentioned it only a few days prior. I ran to CNET.com, and have been following the case via CNET.com, and the blogs of various tech journalists.

At any rate, I checked CNET at school and saw the headline on the CNET landing page, "James Kim found, status unknown." I assumed he was ok, but when I got home and told my mom, she informed me that CNN was reporting that "that internet guy didn't make it."

And thats where we are now. Its a very sad story. Both CNET, and the tech news industry, not to mention his family, have faced a serious lost today.

Rest in peace, James.   

Short interlude from my opinions on tech...

It just snowed 10" here, and they've canceled the school day. My poor mom still has to go to work. For me, a day of laying around, playing my Xbox and listening to podcasts. Not a bad day at all.

In a much sadder and serious note, CNET (formerly of TechTV) personality James Kim and his family are missing after a trip to Oregon. They had some real nasty weather there this week, so hopefully his family and him are in a hotel somewhere, and his cell phone is drained and he forgot his charger or something. Real sad story. Here's the CNET link. CNET editor James Kim, family missing