T: -8 days

Today I finally started getting things in order to prepare for the trip.  I have gone through the list many times in my head and so I finally went to walmart and made my first round of purchases.  I came home and set out the suitcases I plan on using.  The limit for the checked bags is about 62 inches in the 3 dimensions and it must weigh less than 50 lbs.  The larger bag i'm using is about 60 to 61 inches.  I hope they don't count the handle or I'll be over.

I've got a pretty good idea of what I want to take, but once i get it all packed i'll revise it and pack less i'm sure.  I was wondering what I would be getting into when I get over there.  I googled "Things to do in Shanghai" and found that tripadvisor.com has a top 20 list.  The number one thing on the list is a guided shopping tour.  All the reviews are great.  The prices aren't listed on the website, but it's looking pretty cool.  Something I'd really like to do; I'll post pricing information when I know more about the tour.

Also, people have started to give me their Skype account information.  Please let me know your skype stuff or add me; jbiberstine.  Really creative, right?  Look forward to seeing you all via webcam.  I am also distributing my phone number to people while I'll be in China.

I would rather not post the phone number here on the blog because, it's the internet.  If you'd like my number, be sure to sign up for the mailing list.  I'll also post it on facebook.

Thanks,
JBiber

PS - If you've got any tips on how to pack two large bags for 5 months of living abroad -- share your thoughts in the comments!

Shanghai 101

I've been spending sometime away from Rosetta Stone trying to enjoy the holidays.  Not studying Chinese doesn't free my mind from China though.  I have just been looking for some of touristy things to be doing in China.  I think it would be a good place to start throughout the first weekend or two while our group is in China.

This is a link to a map thats somewhat interactive. One of the attractions is the maglev train.. one of the first things we'll be doing as a group.  I'm thinking the water cities would be cool to see.  Theres more attractions that are kind of family oriented for the entire country.

Worth looking at in my opinion.  Do share what you would go visit and what you wouldn't bother with.

JBiber

Final weeks

As each day passes I become closer to my departure for China. I've been recently attempting to prepare for this journey by talking to friends who have studied abroad before in China and elsewhere. The questions usually revolve around how did the trip go, would you go again, what did you like the most, what took the most getting used to, what is a MUST see. It came as not much surprise that the answers were fairly common and expected. The must see item is China is the great wall. One person, who has been to China, said that the Great Wall is amazing and Chinese architecture while is great -- tends to look very similar after awhile.  While that doesn't distinguish my ambitions for traveling around China when the opportunity arises, it may change some of the destinations.

Everything in China has a lot of history associated with it.  I hope it doesn't feel like everywhere is a museum and places are only to be seen.  The last person I know who went to China for an extended time said the people were the most enjoyable part of the trip.  Making friends, talking to the people, and learning about the country through the people was the experience that is most memorable.

The semester at Purdue has finally come to a close.  I have continued to power through the semester and the results are successful.  There is room to improve and the classes were difficult.  I look forward to learning all that I can while I'm in China.  I will be studying Mechanical Engineering while I'm there, but I'm most looking forward to studying the culture and growing in a worldly sense.

I started learning Chinese over the weekend.  I have been studying with Rosetta Stone.  It is possible that I'm not far enough into it yet to really have a firm grasp of how the program is suppose to teach.  That being said, after 6 hours of using the program, I feel like it can be miss leading at times.  The premise of each activity is be show a scene, and infer what it means while being told what it is in Chinese.  I have spoken with some folks who know Chinese and I haven't always been inferring the correct things with the pictures.  Though it is building a basic vocabulary of activities, colors, etc.  I plan on sticking with this through the rest of break for a least two hours a day.

Please share your thoughts.  I'll be gone in just about two more weeks.  Let me know if there is something in China that you would see if you would be going over there.  Also clue me into any good deals you know of, like - it sounds like silk items are very cheap in Beijing.  Another person said pearls are very cheap in a small city on the eastern coast.

Thanks
Jbiber

PS- I've added a Mailing List gadget on the right side of the page - near the bottom.  Please sign up if you're interested in being contacted while I'm in China.  I'll likely have some periodical to publish.

Test Slideshow

This is a test slide show. Enjoy!

Paul Merton in China

I've found some what of a good introduction for the Paul Merton video I talked about in November. The video from Discovery talks about Shanghai and China in general.  If you're on campus, you can find it through the normal distribution channels.  If you're not on campus, there are multiple links in the referenced above article.

Episode 4 is the only episode I've seen from the series, though it was a very good video and I would highly recommend watching at LEAST that video.

If you don't already have it, you'll need some software to watch this video file (xvid).  One of the best, and free, video players available - in my opinion - is vlc.  Download here.

JBiber

China Prep

China Prep is a video I recently watched on PBS.  It's not so much about someone preparing to go to China, but rather it's about high school students in China getting ready to take the exam of a lifetime.  This is the exam that students in China take to find out whether they will become wildly successful, mildly successful, or ... not so much.  The exam is for seniors in high school.  It should be noted, that to get into high school -- theres another exam students take 4 years earlier -- that one also determines quite a bit about where each student will go in life.

During the senior year of high school, and for some -- the years leading up to it, students are essentially expected to study 16 hrs a day 7 days a week.  There are times laid out for sleeping, eating, learning, and occasionally stretching to compliment the excessive studying.  The success of each student is incredibly important for the parents of each student because of the one child policy and retirement options.  It is very traditional in China for the grandparents to be taken care of by the parents and live in home.  As a child grows up and gets to having a career, they begin to support their parents and grandparents.  One way to look at it would be that the parents really want their child to do well because the child is their retirement plan.  Each set of parents only has one chance at a good retirement because of the one child policy.  It's an interesting system, different than home for sure.  It's not really a bad system, clearly it works well for the Chinese and if thats how they want to do it, then go for it.

Anyways, the video is interesting and really shows some unique hardships for students as they go through their senior year in high school.  Another interesting piece of the video is part 3 of 3 with Venessa Fong.  It really highlights the different policies between the two countries.

Also note the new gadget on the left, google voice.  It works. It really does call me.  You can try it, it asks for your phone number because it will call you, have you answer -- then it will try to ring me.

World Expo News Story 1

The World Expo will be held in Shanghai starting May 1st.  There is already much talk about the different displays that each country will be having.  In this article at Gizmodo, they discuss a Romanian announcement about their exhibit that was found on a few other sites.  Along with the Romanian exhibit, there are links to a few other exhibits that will be on display linked from the article.  Worth a quick glance.

JBiber

Confirming the Magic Jack theory

This is a conversation I had with MagicJack customer service.  It confirms that the MJ can be used to call back to the united states for free without minute by minute or connecting fees.  I also asked if there would be a possibility for a group discount for a small number of college students traveling internationally.  There was nothing this agent wanted to do for me, however he did "say" he was going to pass it along to a "higher up" agent.  We'll see if anything happens.

Dan: Hello, how may I help you?

J: Can I use the MJ from an international location to call the US for free / unlimited?

Dan: Hi, you can call the US using MJ for free

J: I'll be traveling to China for a few months, and I wanted to confirm that its true before I buy one.

Dan: yes you can use it there and call free back in the US, the call is not unlimited but it is free
J: What is the limit?

Dan: there is no particular time frame on the call limit but when you get disconnected you just have to dial and call the same number again to reconnect

J: I also assume that folks in the US can dial my MJ phone number and reach me in China for free as well. Please also confirm this.

Dan: yes they can call you free from the US to China through MJ if you are both in the same local area

Dan: but you can call any number or any state in the US free

J: Right, assuming it's a local call and all that jazz.

Dan: yes it would be free; basically the same system when you call within the US since MJ has US number

JBiber

Ps - I have comments enabled.  If you are reading this and going on the trip with me or have something to add, please say something!  It's like I'm writing to Santa, I never hear anything back. :D

Studying from Far Away

Part of my schooling in China will be taking a Purdue course over the internet.  There will be a course video posted after each lecture for all of us in China to view on our own time (Update: this may or may not be true; I recently learned that there may actually be a scheduled time slot to watch the lectures as a group).  We will be assigned homework concurrently with the students at Purdue.  The main difference is clearly we won't be able to be in the classroom at anytime to physically turn in homework or ask questions.

Both of these issues have been solved.  For being able to ask questions, there is a class blog, much like the one you're reading right now.  Homework problems are posted on the blog and students are welcome to visit and ask questions in the comments.  The questions asked are then answered on the blog by other students.  I have been part of a learning experience like this in one of my other mechanical engineering classes.  The system works fairly well and the response times were short, at least while we were all in the same time zone.
In order to turn in homework efficiently we will be using a livescribe pen. On that website there are some cuties demos on how it works.  Basically it'll create a PDF that we'll email to the professor, he'll grade, and then send back responses using his tablet pc.  Excellent use of a tablet.

JBiber

Communicating Back to Home

I have been thinking about ways to talk to all of you while I'll be over in China.  There are clearly many ways that will work and a few surprising things that won't work.  First, let me tell you what won't work.

Notable things that won't work while I'm in China: (why)
-blogspot, but not blogger.. this means I may or may not be able to get to this blog to update it while in China.  I hope that I will be able to update this blog while I'm in China.  I would like to post pictures on the blog since other things won't work.
-facebook
-twitter (maybe)
-new york times
-youtube

Ways I'll try to communicate:
Phone
   Everything that I've read indicates that if I buy a magicjack i'll be able to place calls and receive calls from America at no charge.  So my plan is to make sure I take one of these over there, I am pretty sure that it'll work, but if it doesn't there are more options.
   Skype, many people have skype installed on their computer but they don't hardly ever use it.  I am one of those people, once I'm over there though, it is my secondary communication channel to getting in touch with people over in the states.
   I will have access to my email, Purdue email for sure -- hopefully my gmail account too (despite it being on the blocked list, it may be unlocked).  That should be one easy way to get in touch with me.
   I will also have a Chinese cellphone, clearly -- this is the last contact option because it would cost so much.

In a perfect situation, this is what will happen.  I have a Google voice account.  That Google voice account has a local number.  Anyone in the states will be able to call that number and reach my magicjack which will be located in my room and hopefully on all the time.  The special reason for using Google Voice I might be able to also forward text messages to my Chinese cellphone.  Essentially, when you call my phone number, it'll ring my magicjack and simultaneously ring my Chinese cellphone.  I'm not quit sure that  google voice will be able to forward calls to my Chinese cellphone, but if it doesn't, the whole idea still kind of works.

If you call my phone number, you should be able to leave a voice mail.  I'll be able to check my voice mails from an internet browser.  In the same browser I'll also be able to see all the text messages sent.  I am also able to reply.  I have been testing this system with a few people at this point and it seems to work fairly well.

In summary, I hope that I'll be able to blog about my experinece and share many pictures of the adventures in China.  In order to communicate with people back in the states, I'm hoping for a simple phone number solution so people can call.  As a backup - I'll have a skype account.  That being said, Shanghai is in the +8 time zone.  So from the east coast (-5) theres a 13 hr time difference.  The best times to communicate will be mornings or evenings.

Thanks for reading,
JBiber

Interesting Newsweek Article

Newsweek article

Doesn't require much explaining.
JBiber

Science & Engineering Education

I was reading Gizmodo, as usual.  They have written an article on this video.  I can't say I agree with everything the government does, in any country -- but I declare that should the talking points in this speech become true, it would be a move in the right direction undoubtedly.

China: It's coming...

An article at gizmodo.com (link) shows an example of how different Shanghai is from Indiana.  Recently, I watched a Discovery video on Shanghai.  It was an interesting 45 minutes that highlight some of the things that don't match US culture.  The video was the last part of a four part series "Paul Merton In China."  It starts by highlighting the how Shanghai is really the leading capitalistic city.  It isn't that the socialism doesn't exist there, just that the culture is part of the fast paced world.  He likened it to the way New York City is always moving, vibrant city.  Continuing - A vibrant city famed for it's progressive thinking, independent women, and hedonistic lifestyle.

The video covers many experiences, night life, going out to eat, having a suit tailored, and visits many of the places china wants you to see.  There was also an example in the video of Paul traveling down the river to a trash dump.  There were citizens that (illegally) setup a small community.  They rummage through the garbage and find things that can be sold for money.  Eventually his camera man was spotted and was told to stop filming or face consequences.  These rummagers can make up to three times a taxi cab driver's daily pay, but the lifestyle is quite limiting.  There is no doubt that China has many different faces, it will be interesting to experience first hand.  It is very encouraging that Shanghai is leading the way on the emerging capitalistic way of life.  While there is some movement towards capitalism, there is still a very strong cultural standard that is encouraged by the Chinese government, such as the regulation of video games.

I need to watch the video again to complete my summary and will continue this at a later date.

Another video that I saw recently on the PBS website showcased the world's largest mall, recently built in China.  It's an interesting watch, part 3 of the Utopia series.  The mall was built.  It is larger than the Mall of America.  It is also nearly completely empty.  Only a few shops and very few people.  Definitely worth watching.

It will be an interesting place to visit.
JBiber

China: Go There

Just finished up with my two exams today. I am happy to be done with exams until after thanksgiving. It will be a sorely welcomed 1.5 weeks of no evening exams. Today, I was told the flight number I'll be riding over to China on. The route is by Asiana Airlines. It appears to be operated by US Airways. Today, it was flown in a 777. If I get to go one a 777, that'd be cool. I haven't ever gotten to ride on one that I can think of.

http://www.flightstats.com/go/FlightStatus/flightStatusByFlight.do?id=176175134&utm_source=airlineInformationAndStatus&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=co-op

Jbiber

Preparing for China

Things are about to kick into high gear around here. I'm getting ready to go to China. I've paid my deposits and all systems are a go.

I am having plenty of trouble studying because of my growing interest for going overseas. I will soon start sharing my ideas here on the blog hopefully readers will be able to contribute good ideas for things to take and some problems I think I'll be facing.

All input is welcomed!

JBiber

Back

After a month of not publishing anything, it's been on my list of things to do for awhile. I am happy to report that school is taking up nearly all of my free time. If it hasn't been spring break, it's been school work. Spring break on the other hand actually was fun.

I'm currently finishing up a 4 week spree of exams. Sprinkled with homework and quizzes to add flavor, or just maybe to make sure the other teachers get attention when they're not offering an exam that week.

I've been involved with the Purdue Motorsports Association Grand Prix team. However, my interaction with the team has been severely limited by the amount of study sessions, exams, and supplemental instruction I've been going to in order to keep up to date with all the materials. I am fortunate that the management course I am in comes with little difficultly. I wish that the other courses were as intuitive.

Spring break was a good time. I was originally planning to go with friends to northern Michigan for a few solid days of skiing and snowboarding. This fell through at the last moment because it was going to be raining, rather than snowing, throughout the week up there. I was disappointed and relieved. It was a very long drive for very mediocre skiing plus it did save me some money. My new goal for the week was to get something productive done everyday. I was successful in that way. I learned more about the private pilot licence I've been considering getting. I took a demo flight, got a friend from the airport, enjoyed time with friends.

Other than spring break my recent life can literally be summed up by just saying school. I have been painfully busy with school. In my introduction to design course, the group work that has been required has been, less of a group effort and more concentrated than it should have been, imho.

I am still very much considering going to China next January. I am going to work at GE Aviation this summer in Cincinnati, OH and have just arranged for summer living. On a related note: if you know someone who is looking for a cheap apartment for the summer, let me know.

I am also looking for two solid roommates for the Fall 2009 semester. It is going to be a short term lease for only the half year. All utilities walking, distance from campus, 3br 2 bath. Competitive rate! hahah.. let me know if you know someone who's looking.

Thanks for reading,
Jon

Short Update

These last few weeks have been rather long. I've spent less time sleep and more time working than I would prefer. I have been working on class projects, exams, and gobs of homework. I have also been recently looking for new directions to take with my post-graduation plans. I've reconsidered going out into the industry right after graduation and started looking into government work or going DIRECTLY into grad school. Not sure how I want to continue right now, I'm just trying to get as many options as I can right now.

I will probably be going to China for school Spring 2010. It is an opportunity through Purdue to go over to the "#1 Engineering School" in China for a semester. I am hoping that this will allow me to grow my creativity and imagination when it comes to problem solving. I figure seeing the world from a completely new perspective will help develop these skills. I also think it'd be nice to go over there. I have a friend who went there for a semester and she thought it was an amazing experience. Getting out there and experiencing something beyond the everyday is important to self growth.

I've slowed down, thankfully, on following the internet and the daily blogs I used to visit. While I feel like I'm a little less connected to what's going on around me, I've enjoyed not sitting in front of my computer as much. Part of this is because I've been trying to go running a few times a week. It takes up an hour I used to spend online, but running seems to be a good usage of time. My best time so far has been running for 30 minutes at ~7 mph. I'm hoping to improve this to 8 mph in the next month.

Spring break is coming up. I believe I am going skiing in Michigan with a few of my friends. It should be a good time, I enjoy skiing -- and we're not going to just the dirt piles in southern Michigan. We're going to northern Michigan where they have full sized dirt mounds! (I'd rather go to Colorado, but real mountain's just aren't in the budget.) Take what you can get I suppose.

Jbiber

Busy

I've been busy recently, I expect to get more busy this week. Apply for a job, taking some exams, you know -- life and school keep a person pretty busy.

I'll be back soon.

Things That Are Awesome

A couple things I've stumbled across in the last few days that are worth noting and sharing:

Gizmodo:
Darth Dentist

Why it's awesome: David at the dentist was funny, the funny hasn't completely worn off yet - just like David's dental medicine.


Photoshop contest from Giz:
Insane things never seen in google's street view
- Personal Favorite
Why it's awesome: I guess I'm on a Star Wars kick... again..


Microsoft Mesh:
Mesh is an easy way to share files (up to 5gbs of storage, free) easily across many computers. Also includes a nifty and useful remote desktop tool.
Why it's awesome: Incredibly useful tool. I go back and forth between school and personal computers all the time. The service doesn't require any additional software, it's the new flash drive. The synced folders currently appear on the desktop just like a normal folder. It acts like a normal folder in almost every way.

Phone Sycing services:
Sync by Google is a new service provided by google that allows people to backup their contacts, calendar, and email to a google server.
Why it's awesome: If you ever lose your phone or need to edit the contacts easily this is the service for you. It will allow you to back up all your old contacts onto a new phone easily and over the air. You can even edit the contacts through a regular computer using a keyboard (that's a big plus). Works on iPhone (take that MobileMe), BlackBerry, and WinMo devices and more. Service from Google is free, if you don't have unlimited internet -- it will cost you on your phone bill.


MyPhone by Microsoft is a very similiar service that I first heard about at engadget. This coupled with a few rumors adds a lot of potential for the Windows Mobile category. On top of that - the service will likely be well integrated into other Microsoft products like the Live services (Live.com, xbox live, mesh.. ect).


Good luck out there,
J.Biber

Week In Review .=. February 2009: Week 1

This past week has been relatively uneventful from an interesting perspective. I've been sick, which has made life a little bit rougher. I should be getting well fairly quick, no worries. On a much brighter note, things in school seem to be going pretty well. The super bowl was a good time last week. I wasn't particularly invested in the game, but any excuse to get together with friends is fine enough for me. The commercials weren't amazing, but the funnier ones are my favorite anyways (I'm glad the E*Trade baby made another appearance). The 3-D was not anything special though. I was not impressed. The Sobe commercial was the best (of the 3-D content). Watching Chuck was alright, but it was a very long time to wear the glasses. There needs to be more advancement in this field for it to really become practical, though I'm always up for deploying new technology and trying it out.

In my Mechanical Design course, our group is making big progress on a report that is due later this coming week. On Friday, a group mate and I spent 5 hrs in the computer lab working on completing the report. The other two group members had class and were unable to come by and take off some of the load. Together, we finished a 20 page report. Today, I met with my group on campus and prepared a presentation for Thursday. We're doing fairly well working together. It hasn't been all sunshine and happy times, but we're making progress every time we meet. I still enjoy group work though, even though sometimes you have to work through roadblocks that are being presented.

On the radio:

The Killers - Human
--- This song is off their album from last November. I believe it is the first single off the album. I hadn't heard it on the radio til this week, so it might be new to the top 40 charts or I may have just been missing it for awhile.

Billy Currington - Don't
--- When I first heard this song, I wasn't a very big fan. I could have gone either way on it. Now that I've heard it a few times on the radio, seen the music video, I think I'll admit it's grown on me. Another great example why people shouldn't just stop listening when they don't like what they're hearing the first time.

Kanye West - Heartless
--- Clearly this isn't new to the radio. It's been on awhile, but I'm just sayin' I've grown to like it a little more. I've heard it a few times this past week, it's goodish.

Zac Brown Band - Chicken Fried
--- I haven't actually heard this on the radio that much, but I've heard it on the weekend countdown while the I've been working on the computer. It's funny, I like it because it feels a lot like a summer song. It has a lot of personality for a song.



Related note - This past week we finally broke our cold weather trend. We set a new "warmest day of the year." It was great, rather than the normal low 30's we've been experiencing, it got up to nearly 60! It was a great feeling, really makes everyone happier I think. I know I enjoyed the afternoon by running my errands with the windows down and the stereo "comfortably" loud. :)




On the web:
Jellyfish protein helps regrow joint cartilage
Cheap Xbox Live Membership ($30 / 13 months)




Colbert - Steve Martin is awesome. (So is Dueling Banjos)

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Steve Martin

Colbert Report Full Episodes
Funny Political News

Christian Bale Parody
Joke of the Day

Clearly I've missed the boat on this one, over 6 million views and I hadn't heard about it yet.. very funny!

New Ideas

Last but not least, I came up with another new "product" this past week. While I'm not about to outline it here on the web, it's just nice to mention that I've taken more notes in my ideas and projects notebook that I keep. It is fun to have new ideas just come to you when you're expecting it the least.

Good luck out there,

J.Biber

Special Thanks to Blogger for auto saving feature. My browser def crashed while writing this post.

Haha..

I am a fan of xkcd. Image linked for action!

Windows 7

Windows 7 Beta 1 came out not long after CES earlier this month. I was one of the many who attempted to get it the moment it came out. If you didn't follow the story, the servers all crashed and many fans were left waiting many hours to get a copy of the beta. The beta was originally intended for the first 2 million users, which is one of the reasons for the high traffic early in the day. The next day they, Microsoft, re-released the beta and security keys. It had been a long 30 hrs of waiting and re-freshing, but a sense of accomplishment came along with the first full boot.

Side note: I have been using Windows Vista on my personal computer for nearly 1.5 years. I haven't had many troubles with it. The only real trouble I could talk about is that I had problems running Age of Empires 2: Conquers Expansion. This should have been expected. This game was released on the Win98 platform and therefore isn't quite as compatible with current day systems.

The computer I am using for the Win7B1 is a media center that I built for our apartment's main room. It is a 2.4 Ghz P4 with 1.5 gb of ram and 1 Tb hdd. It was running Windows XP 2005 Media Center edition before I re-sized the drive into two partitions. The W7B1 has been working out for our apartment so far quite well.

Desktop gadgets: I'm a big fan of gadgets as I have gotten use to having them in Vista. I've got a few weather gadgets and an Xbox Live friends gadget too. These are nearly flawless.

General Use: The computer has a Windows Media Center remote control hooked up to it too. In WinXP05MC, the remote would wake the computer up from screen saver. In the Beta, the remote is fairly useless in waking the computer up. It is actually sometimes a chore, hopefully this gets some special touches before release later this year. As for now, the computer is now set to never sleep.

Media Center: Overall, this is a clear upgrade from XPMC. The UI is more useful and easy to use. The UI now incorporates many web-based applications, sports, music, videos - nearly seamless. The guide can now be color coded to indicate the type of programming on each channel. As well as a boat load of other features.

My impression so far is that it will be a great new experience. I'm glad that I'm part of the beta, as it has been not much trouble so far. I look forward to seeing the other improvements as them come through the pipeline.

In my last post, Week In Review, you can read the Windows 7 opinion article. I can see where the author of the post is coming from. Windows Vista really wasn't that bad. It would be nice though to see a reduced price for people that had to "suffer" through the new features Vista added. Coming from a Vista user for 1.5 years, take that comment with a grain of salt.

-JBiber

Week In Review

Things I would have liked to blog about, but didn't get the time.

mLab by Google
Xkcd comic
New tanning drug
Windows 7 opinion artical
Analyst: Xbox Live A 'Gold Mine' For Netflix
Government Approves Study Using Human Embryonic Stem Cells

DTV Transition Delayed fails in House

After yesterday's rant, it's good news to see that the transition has not yet been delayed.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/28/digital-tv-transition-delays-fails-to-pass-in-house/

As stated in the engadget article, it still could get passed next week. As for me, I've got my converter box coupons and I'm going to go shopping.

Flower: PS3

Flower PS3

Flower is a game that has been in developement for the PS3 for quite sometime. I heard about it probably in June of 2008. It is a "game" where the purpose is to explore and discover. It has been described by many as game art. There isn't much of a plot. There are no humans or aliens. It's just flowers in a field that change with music as the user changes speed and direction. It is very visually appealing. It is rather unique in the industry and has a different look and feel to it than any game I can think of. See the video for a taste. It will be very interesting to see how this game does in the PlayStation Store for $10 a pop. Reviews will come out around the time the game is released Feb 7th, 2009.



Flower game demo from Dean Takahashi on Vimeo.

DTV Transition Delayed

Opinion Article:
Okay, yesterday the Senate approved the DTV transition to be delayed from Feb 17th until June 12th. I feel very strongly that this is the wrong move to make.

What it is?
The digital television transition will free up the airwaves in the 700-799Mhz spectrum.

What did it do?
From Wikipedia -
Original Usage
The 700 MHz spectrum was previously used for analog television broadcasting, specifically UHF channels 52 through 69. The FCC has ruled that the impending switch to digital television will make these frequencies no longer necessary for broadcasters, due to the improved spectral efficiency of digital broadcasts.[2] Thus, all broadcasters will be required to move to channels 2 through 51 as part of the digital TV transition. This reallocation is an ongoing effort; the lower channels of the band, 52 through 59, have been used considerably more for analog and digital broadcasts than the upper channels, 60 through 69, which have been largely abandoned.
Some of the 700 MHz spectrum was already auctioned in Auctions 44 and 49. Channels 54, 55 and 59 were sold and in some areas are already being used for broadcasting and Internet access. For example Qualcomm MediaFLO in 2007 started using Channel 55 for broadcasting TV to cell phones in New York City, San Diego and elsewhere.[3]

Why do we need to free up the 700Mhz spec?
The Gov wants to use part of it for emergency purposes. Ambulances, Fire, Police, and other Gov agencies will now have a new dedicated block of airwaves to broadcast on. These broadcasts will likely include voice and data communications.

What about the rest of it?
The rest of it has been sold in an auction. The biggest winner gaining the largest block was Verizon.

Why did they want it?
These airwaves are particularly good at penetrating walls.

What will Verizon do with it?
It will likely enable them to create a very fast data network that is far reaching. This is not a guarantee. They could also do nothing with it, though that's unlikely.

What is the transition and who does it effect?
Only people who currently use a "bunny-ears" type setup or similar. If you're paying for a service, like cable or satellite, you'll be fine.



Now that you have a greater understanding of what this is, I can now explain why I think a delay isn't a good idea. Part of the reason of the sale was to free up airwaves so that the government emergency responders would be able to more effectively communicate. Another big part of this is the advancements in technology that this will bring to the cellphone industry. It doesn't seem to me that spending millions of dollars on advertising a Feb 17th switch transition date then changing the date is a good use of money.

On top of that, there will be people who receive there channels over the air that will think they're in the clear after Feb 17th. Then when the next "cut-off date" rolls around, they will think it's already happened once and they survived just fine without doing anything. What they may fail to realize is that their television will fail to work without getting the necessary equipment.

Finally, a great reason for the switch is -- people who have already taking the proper measures to be ready are currently getting crippled service. The range of the transmission antennas can be upped once the 700 mhz spectrum is repurposed.

The process can be confusing if you're completely unfamiliar with technology. There are people who are willing to help you. Thousands of kids across the nation could be called to duty on this initiative. If the American people, and their teenagers, were smart -- they can start a small one man show for this. The installation is easy for anyone over the age of 12 and less than 30. Run an ad in the paper offering your services. Charge 10$ and be done with it.

The below video makes a good point of how confusing the process could be when jumping through all the hoops. This is meant to be funny and poke fun at the gov'n for lack of congruency and ease throughout the process.




Help Links / References:
What it is - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/700_MHz_wireless_spectrum_auction
What to get - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_CECB_units
Engadget article - http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/26/digital-tv-transition-officially-delayed-until-june-12th/

Shooting Range

Yesterday my roommates and I decided to go to a local shooting range. I've never shot at an actual range before, just out on some farms I've been to over the years. It was a very unique experience. I was happy to have gone out and experienced this. It has been many years since I've fired an actual weapon. We spent about an hour over there. It was a good time and a great experience.