[EDITED] Zune Harakiri [Apple Fans Not Welcome :)]

Apparently the internet is abuzz with the recent bricking of thousands of Zunes. The phenomenon is being dubbed as Z2K9, Zunicide, or Zunepocolypse and results in a 30GB Zune basically crapping out. Reports are that at about around 2AM this morning the fated Zunes reset and tried to reboot, once the status bar reached 100%... nothing, they just freeze there. At this time no solution has been found and it only seems to affect 30GB Zunes (regardless of firmware version). If you have a Zune 30 my advice is to hold off on using it until the problem is solved. Keep an eye on the Zune support page for any updates: http://www.zune.net/en-US/support/default.htm (Top right corner).

There is a workaround at this point, but it requires you to open up the Zune (which voids the warranty), but if you're feeling daring here's the link: http://www.rapidrepair.com/guides/zune/zuneassemblyguide.htm. My advice is to just wait and see what happens. The software still works without a hitch (Don't plug the Zune 30 in though), so if you're dying to listen to music do it at your computer.

I still think the Zune as a whole, trumps the iPod (hardware, software, and marketplace), probably because I haven't been affected by any of the Microsoft trifecta (BSoD, RRoD, Z2K9). Its bad enough I have to hear all the smack talk about Microsoft's Windows OS and their infamous Xbox 360 RRoD, now THIS? Come on guys, I'm trying to fight the good fight here.

ETA: The problem seems to be isolated to Zune 30s manufactured in 2006 and the problem should resolve itself. Matt Akers from the Zune team posted an update to the support forums stating the following:

"Early this morning we were alerted by our customers that there was a widespread issue affecting our 2006 model Zune 30GB devices (a large number of which are still actively being used). The technical team jumped on the problem immediately and isolated the issue: a bug in the internal clock driver related to the way the device handles a leap year. The issue should be resolved over the next 24 hours as the time change moves to January 1, 2009. We expect the internal clock on the Zune 30GB devices will automatically reset tomorrow (noon, GMT). By tomorrow you should allow the battery to fully run out of power before the unit can restart successfully then simply ensure that your device is recharged, then turn it back on. If you’re a Zune Pass subscriber, you may need to sync your device with your PC to refresh the rights to the subscription content you have downloaded to your device."

So it was more of a hiccup that got blown out of proportion... put that iPod back on the shelf!

Here's a link to the thread on the support forum: http://forums.zune.net/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=408989

Tech Tuesday: D+Caf

Wow! Not all "advances" in technology are as impressive as the LHC, but this may come close.

Essentially a test strip for your beverage to "detect the decaf scamsters". You simply place this strip in the questionable beverage and it uses the same immunoassay technology of pregnancy tests to determine if the concentraction of caffine exceeds 20mg (in a 6 oz. serving).

I don't know where these people have been getting their coffee? I haven't really seen any news regarding scores of people dying from drinking caffinated coffee or evil corporations making money hand-over-fist by selling the leaded version verses decaf (especially since decaffination is an added process that removes the naturally occuring caffine in coffee/cocoa beans and is therefore more costly).

I understand that there are people with caffine sensitivities and others with moral/religious convictions preventing them from drinking the legal stimulant, but is there really enough of a market for these things?

On a side note, speaking of pregnancy tests, I wonder if I ingest enough caffine in the day for one of these strips to come up positive? Hmmmm...

If you're interested in purchasing a 20 pk. of these babies here's the link:
http://www.medgadget.com/archives/2008/12/how_to_detect_the_decaf_scamsters.html

Source: Gizmodo via Discover Testing via MIT Technology Review via Medgadget

Meet my nemesis at work

I'd like to introduce you to my nemesis.

"It looks like a chair" you may say. Not true. It's a torture device that tests ones resolve and patience disguised as a chair.

First of all, when I sit down on it, the "lean back" lever kicks out and basically throws the chair forward almost knocking me on to the ground.

"Why don't you just sit down more carefully?" Because I shouldn't have to think just to sit down! Secondly, the "lean back" lever likes to randomly pop out, usually choosing the moments when I have a mug of hot coffee at my lips.

"There are probably a ton of other chairs, why don't you switch?" The chairs in the office are kind of a mishmash and are not all the same, so if I take another person's chair, they'll know. The extra chairs have terrible lumbar support (wow, I sound old).

So I basically have to make the choice to either have a sore back or look like an idiot. I have way more experience with the latter.

Baking: Take the good with the bad

My wife has found a new love for baking. This holiday, batch after batch of delicious treats and confections have rolled off the stove and out of the oven. My tough job is that someone has to "test" them and verify that they are of "gift-giving quality".

Unfortunately for me, I am responsible for keeping the kitchen clean (since we both work full-time, and I admit I slack sometimes). So I present to you:

One of the many reasons I love when my wife bakes (the picture doesn't do them justice!):

And the only reason I hate when my wife bakes (not really though):

Santa's Landing Strip

Despite how dirty the title sounds, this is a clean post. :) This is one of the things I really look forward to during the pandemonium that is the Holidays. Its hard to tell from the picture, but the little white lights are luminaries. There is a neighborhood between our house and my parents' that line all of their streets with these luminaries. It is one of the coolest things, and its even better when there is the classic Fresno fog. There is just something surreal about the soft glow in the chilly, damp air. I did some rough math and I estimate there is at least 6,000 little lights guiding Santa to people's homes to drop off his "wares".

Winning Wednesday: SSF2THDR

Ahhh... this game brings me back. Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix is exactly what it says, a remake of the old Street Fighter II with updated graphics and "more balanced" characters (exempt Cammy who now apparently has super powers). It features the original eight characters, the four boss characters, and the four added characters from Super Street Fighter II. The added online play is a nice addition and seems to work flawlessly. It is sometimes hard to find a "quick match", but if you host a match it usually takes only a few seconds to find an opponent. On the downside its not possible to just invite a friend and play them directly. You can get around this by hosting a player match and then inviting them. You'll end up playing with strangers also, but you actually get to watch the fight of the people who are playing. The biggest draw back is not the games fault, but the crappy US Xbox controller's D-Pad. Once you get used to it the game is definitely worth the points. Available for 1200 MSP ($15) on Xbox LIVE arcade.

Low Tech Tuesday: Amish Paradise

I got a call today from my wife alerting me that she "broke our house". What she meant by this was that the power had shut off again (not really her fault) but this time it wouldn't come back on. We'd been having some trouble with one of the circuits in our home for the last few weeks, flickering lights, breaker constantly popping, etc. Normally the quick fix for this is to go to the breaker and switch all of the 15 amp breaker switches off and then. We end up having to do all of the plug breaker switches because the wiring in our house is RI-DIC-ULOUS, as it seems the builder/contractor decided to play a game called "confuse the electrician". I know it confuses electricians because my grandpa came over (a Master electrician) and he we looked for the problem for about four hours and the prognosis came up "inconclusive". So at this point we have no Kitchen lights (the stove, refrigerator, and other appliances including the coffee maker, still work) and several plugs are out (one in our playroom, two in our dining area, and four in our bedroom).

The real gem was getting to explore my attic space again. Notice I say attic space and not attic, there is a big difference. An attic is a place that usually has a floor and you are able to stand up and store stuff in. Our attic space is basically what I imagine hell to be like. In the very center of the space there is about four feet of clearance (I am 6'1" tall), and the clearance decreases with the slope of the roof. Boy! That sounds like it sucks... yeah well it gets better, the ceiling/backside of the roof has staples sticking about and inch and a half out everywhere just waiting for you to impale yourself when you forget there is a low ceiling. The "floor" is really just the drywall for the actual ceiling below you (which cannot support the weight of an adult male). There are piles and piles of fiberglass (what itching powder is made of) insulation with 20+ years of dust caked on. The wiring up there is pulled so tight that I was scared I'd pull something out while wiggling around, and to take up even more space there are heating ducts everywhere. Oh and spiderwebs... lots of spiderwebs.

So to recap, I was squirming around with spiders and itchy fiberglass up to my neck, gasping for breath between huge clouds of possibly toxic dust, all the while simultaneously trying not to stab my head or fall through the floor below as I shimmy and shake over ducts, pipes, and wires. Good times. I felt like Indiana Jones and was basically waiting for this guy to pop up underneath a pad of insulation:

And the best part. Round 2 tomorrow.

Wow! This blog is so popular that...

...Target has begun to market for Tepid Coffee. Okay so not really, but a week ago or so when I was in Target I saw this "Commuter Mug" in the "oh crap I don't know what to get section". You know the section that has all of the random gifts and gadgets in the solid red boxes. Well for ten bucks you can pick up this mug that plugs into your car's accessory outlet (formerly known as a cigarette lighter) and it will keep your beverage at one of three tempertures: Hot, Warm, or Tepid. Honestly though, who wants their coffee tepid? I just get busy working and forget its there so it ends up becoming lukewarm. No word yet on the accompanying "Stale Muffin paper bag" though.

Winning Wednesday: The Target Demographic

Last Friday night we had one of my wife's former co-workers, Bekah, and her husband Wayne over for some dinner and gaming. As we got to talking I found out that Wayne and I had a lot in common (almost to an eerie degree). During our conversation I found out he does a weekly podcast with some friends called The Target Demographic. The subject matter runs the gamut from movies to music to gaming all from the perspective of those in their respective medium's target demographic (males ages 25-34). I subscribed and had a listen. I have to say its quite entertaining and I really appreciate the lack of BS fluff (as$ kissing, "advertisement interviews", etc) that fills some of the studio's and developer's podcasts. You should check it out if you have an opportunity, heck even if you don't have an opportunity you should check it out.

The Target Demographic Website

The Target Demographic Show #39 (latest show as of this post)

Tech Tuesday: Windows Mobile Apps

These days often I hear of the many cool things the iPhone can do and I have to admit its a pretty cool phone. However, other than a far superior UI (user interface), I haven't really heard of anything it can do functionally that my Windows Mobile phone can't. I am currently using the HTC Kaiser (aka AT&T Tilt) running Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional. The Tilt is what is refered to as a Pocket PC meaning that it has a touch screen, I will let you know if the Smartphone (non-touchscreen) equivalent is also available.

I wanted to share with you a few of the additional applications I use on a daily basis (the total of which cost me $0.00), not including basic things like calculator or text messaging. One major thing to note is that I subscribe to an unlimited data plan and some of these applications are data intensive (meaning if you don't have an unlimited plan it could cost you a bit in data fees).

One of my all time favorite apps just got better. Google Mobile Maps (available for several platforms including Blackberry and Symbian 60 (Nokia Smartphones)) now offers "Street view" along with its typical map view, satellite view and turn-by-turn directions. GMM also works with my phones built in GPS (also works with an external GPS reciever), or (if you don't have GPS) it can use network towers to approximate your position.

Next up, I use a program called iContact (yes I know it has the stupid "i"). Its an application that runs on top of the normal contacts application but is much more finger friendly. Also you can quickly go directly to contacts starting with a certain letter with the alphabet pad and it supports "favorites" so you can quickly access people you call often.
*There is no smartphone version of this app

Since I'm not always at my computer I also like to keep up with the blogs and podcasts I follow with an application called BeyondPod. Its a nice little RSS reader that will automatically download the latest feeds from the sites you choose. One of the big advantages of this app is it will also download the lastest podcasts OTA (over the air) right to the phone, without the 10MB limit like some "other phones" have to deal with. (Smartphone Version)

Another app I really like is called PockeTwit. It is basically a Twitter client that lets me update my status on twitter/facebook, and receive friends' updates. One nice feature is that it uses a unique notification (like when you get a text message) that works outside of the program itself. (Smartphone version/Additional download site for Pocket PC)

Live Search is an application from Microsoft itself that has maps, traffic, and directions also (I use GMM for that), but I do use it as a quick way to pull up the cheapest gas prices in town and movie showtimes. Another cool feature is the voice search. You press a button and say what and where you want to find something and it will pull up a list that matches, for example "Starbucks in Fresno California". (Works for both Pocket PC and Smartphone)

One of the major areas of improvement for Windows Mobile is its crappy browser (Internet Explorer Mobile, not good on the PC not good on a phone). This is where Opera comes in! A great browser that surfs the entire internet, not just the mobile net. Has a great zoom feature and supports flash and java content. Which is funny since Microsoft's Xbox.com and social.zune.net both require java to login and are therefore inaccessible through IE. If you download one app for your phone I would say do this one! (I am currently using Opera Mobile 9.5 Beta 2, but only the last stable version (8.65) is available for smartphones.)

So that's a sample of what I use on a daily basis. If there's something in particular you are looking for let me know. A great site to find all sorts of applications (all free) is freewarepocketpc.net for Pocket PCs or smartphone-freeware.com for WM smartphones. Hope this helps!

Maybe you can reward us with some floppy disks too!

A few weeks ago, my wife applied for a Buy.com Visa to get a pretty sizable discount on my Christmas gift (with the intention of just paying it off immediately). The other day it came in the mail along with the standard disclosures and pamphlets. I took a look at the "Directory of Benefits and Services" and a few things caught my eye. Now I love buy.com because they have some really amazing deals on some cool products, but I think they need to update their marketing "collateral". This is picture of the inside flap of the brochure showing what kind of cool products you can "find" on buy.com:

There were two lines that stuck out like sore thumbs. First: "Hollywood Blockbusters on VHS and DVD"

VHS?!?!? Seriously in 2008?

The second (mind you we got this in the mail in December of 2008): "The Hottest PC and Console Games including Playstation, Dreamcast, and Nintendo64".

Um... The Sega Dreamcast was discontinued in March of 2001 and Sega no longer even makes consoles! And the Playstation and Nintendo64? Sony and Nintendo have released TWO generations of console since those were on the market (Playstaton 2 and Playstation 3/Nintendo Gamecube and Nintendo Wii).

I'm surprised the new Milli Vannilli "record" wasn't available.

Long's Cash Cow

My son has been a little under the weather with a cold these past couple of days. The other night we ran out of cold medicine and so I made a trip to the Long's Drug Store across the street to pick some up. I perused the cold and allergy aisle, and to my dismay they were out of children's decongestant. I grabbed my phone to let my wife know (she had already made an attempt at Target, where they were out too), and was apparently very focused. As I was putting the phone to my ear a man shouted at me four inches away from my head scaring the bejesus out of me. My heart was literally pounding. I turn to look at who this a-hole yelling at me is, and I am greeted by the evincii PharmAssist machine (I believe evincii is Italian for evil).

Now here is where I think the conspiracy is. This particular Long's is frequented by an "older" clientele, and this machine is conveniently located within close proximity to both the Adult diapers and heart medicine. So this little machine on the back of the end cap quietly sits until some unsuspecting victim turns the corner and then it blasts information at you causing you to either poop yourself or have a heart attack. Coincidence? I think not.

ACCUweather huh?

The weather in Fresno is a bit screwy, especially in the wintertime. Some days its really cold (relatively) and others you have to layer your clothes so you can peel them off during the day (usually ending in a T-shirt). My phone has a handy little feature that allows me to quickly check the current conditions, and daily highs and lows with data provided by accuweather. So I make it a habit to check the weather on my phone as I'm getting dressed in the morning so I can choose the correct ensemble. This morning I picked up my phone and hit the weather button and was greeted with this:

What the hell? Its snowing right now?!?!? Um... as much as I like the novelty of it snowing in Fresno (it only happens like once every 10 years), I've never heard of it snowing when its 38 degrees outside. I'm no meterologist, but I'm pretty sure you need freezing conditions (<32 degrees) in order to have snow. I shrugged it off and went about my business. Later as I stepped outside, this is what I saw:

Typical Fresno winter fog. This is what I get for trusting a weather service based 3,000 miles away in State College, PA. Should have watched the local weather forecast. (Anyone catch the irony here? Look at who provides their data.)

Analogy of the day

Earlier in the day when I left my desk to take a quick pee pee break, I entered the restroom and found that the only urinal was in use and I had to use the toilet. It made me stop to do a little introspection: why was I disappointed by this? The same job gets done no matter what kind of receptacle is used, and in the case of men (and some women) a porcelain box isn't even required. Then it came to me in the form of an analogy.

Urinal:Toilet = Chopsticks:Forks
(urinal is to toilet as chopsticks are to forks)

Let me explain. At home I have a toilet, this is what I use on a daily basis. There is a certain novelty to urinals. Its similar to going out to a Chinese restaurant for dinner. You could use a fork to eat your chow mein, but you still ask for the chopsticks. 'Nuff said.

Oops! Wrong link!

I just realized that on my Holiday recap post I posted the wrong link for Holly Jones' photography website. This is the correct link www.hollyjonesphotography.com. If you haven't, take the time to check out her site. She does amazing work (like the fine specimen above). Sorry Holly.

photo by Holly Jones.

Confession of a Cheating Heart

My Sweet White Chocolate Raspberry International Delight,

I am sorry, but I must end our torrid affair. I've run our situation through my head time and time again. I thought I wanted more, but now I realize I was wrong. French Vanilla Coffee Mate and I were having some problems and then you came along. I was weak and partook of your raspberry goodness, but nothing will ever be as good as the vanilla I know and love. I apologize, but this is how it must be.

-Brandon

A walk in the mist

Its sort of a tradition for us to walk down Christmas Tree Lane every year. For those of you who don't know what Christmas Tree Lane is, its about two miles of decorated houses in an affluent neighborhood. Most of the season (December 1-24) they turn it into a one-way street and you drive down it (slowly), enjoying everyone's decorations. They even used to broadcast Christmas music into your radio (like the old movie drive-ins did with the audio). I haven't driven down it since I was little. Nowadays most cars come with daytime running lights and about 1% of people know how to manually override them, so you end up being blinded from behind, all the while asphyxiating on the exhaust of the cars in front of you. Not really what I'd call a fun time.

Two times a season they close the street off and allow only pedestrians. Most years this involves a clusterf**k of people, rambling the street, bumping into everything that moves. And the decorations had slowly been becoming less and less spectacular. I had even begun to dread the tradition the last couple of years.

But something happened this year. I was genuinely excited about the walk this year since Keegan was now old enough to enjoy all the lights. We avoided the usual hour long wait for a drink at the Starbucks closest to the event, instead opting for "extra hot" beverages at the one closest to our house. Then we avoided the frustration of trying to find a parking spot by meeting our friend's at their parent's house (right by the event). There were still a TON of people, but instead of the zombie like stupor everyone normally was in, everyone "respected the double yellow" (meaning people going north stayed on one side of the road, people going south stayed on the other). We met up with some friends who we don't get to see often enough and enjoyed a walk on the brisk, misty, evening. And to top off the experience, it seems that the lights, sound system, and decorations had been improved since last year. I had a great time!

Cereals of the future

The other day as I poured myself a bowl of Marshmallow Mateys (a pirate themed generic knockoff of Lucky Charms), I snickered to myself. Its strange how some of history's most notorious villains are now plopped into everyday life as children's mascots of sort. A few centuries ago pirates were feared for raping, killing, stealing, etc, and their eastern equivalent, ninjas, were a group of secretive assassins. Yet today they are cartoon characters and even heroes in some cases. Don't get me wrong I still think ninjas and pirates are cool, but it makes me think: what will the children of 2200 eat for breakfast? Nazi Nuggets? Facist Flakes? Klan Krisp?

I guess only time will tell.

A lesson about homonyms

If you know me or have read any of my posts you probably think I say some pretty cheesy things. Well now I have proof that I not only say cheesy things, I also think cheesy things. So I present you with my lesson of homonyms:

That's right: I was paring a pair of pears!

The sad thing is, as I was preparing some lunch for the little one and peeling the pear I actually went back to the fridge to to get a second pear just to take this picture. I know: LAME!