HD HomeRun

Was checking my newsfeeds on Sunday and happened to see that Newegg was selling a Silicon Dust HD HomeRun networked digital TV tuner for $75 (or $25 off the regular price).  I’ve been thinking of getting one of these for quite some time, so … what the heck, right?

For those of you not familiar, the HD HomeRun is just a simple TV tuner that connects to your home network.  Then, with the right software or hardware, it’ll let you watch live TV on your computer (or your TV …. wait …)  In addition, you can get software that’ll work like a DVR (or TiVo).  I’m hoping to use this to record live TV and then have it automatically converted to AppleTV format so I can watch if whenever I want to.

Ok, I could have gotten a TiVo and done the same thing, but with this solution, I get to keep the files and copy them to whatever device I want, like my AppleTV or an iPod.  Plus, I’m a nerd, so getting something like this to function and do what I really want it to do is a challenge and fun to boot.@

Apple’s Rumored Tablet … My Take

For at least the past 5 years (and maybe more, I’ve kinda lost track), there’s been speculation that Apple will release a tablet-based computing device.  Each year, the pundits and everyone else take their time to pontificate and or pass on the latest inside information saying that the tablet is nigh.

This last year was no exception.  Everywhere I looked, people were thinking it was coming soon or going to be at least announced at the next major Apple event.  Personally, I’ve not taken much stock in the rumors because they didn’t seem credible, and from my way of thinking (based mostly on what other people were saying), there was no real reason for Apple to release one.  And up to this point, I’ve been right.  Apple has yet to release a tablet (other than the iPod Touch which, while very nice, isn’t a “tablet”)

However, the Wall Street Journal has started talking about a tablet computer, so for this reason, the tablet appears to be a bit more real than it did six-to-eight months ago.  For that reason, and a friend who also got me thinking about what a tablet could be, I’ve started thinking about what it could be.  Before I say anything else, this is just pure conjecture and a fair amount of “wag”-ging (wild-ass guessing) and I don’t have any kind of inside information or sources.  In fact, I’m pretty sure the world doesn’t really care what I say, but on the off-hand chance what I say is correct, I at least wanted it on public record.

I tend to think that every Apple device they release has to have two things going for it:

• A simple, elevator pitch to explain the device
• A place in Apple’s overall story

Before I go forward, I do have to point out that I didn’t come up with these requirements.  Rather, I borrowed them from Chicago Sun-Times columnist and regular on TWiT’s MacBreak Weekly, Andy Ihnatko.

So, what do I mean by the above items?

Every Apple device they currently sell (especially on the consumer side) can be summed up in one sentence.  For example, the original iPod was “1000 songs in your pocket”.  The MacBook Air was the “lightest Macintosh ever”.  This is the elevator pitch.

Secondly, the device must fit into the Apple story.  Apple wants to be the center of your digital life.  The iPod offered a way to handle your music.  The iPhone offers the whole internet in your pocket as well.  Even the Macintosh fits in with iLife (iTunes, iMovie and iPhoto), handling your music, home movies and photos.

What would an Apple tablet bring to the table?

I tend to think it’ll be something of an extension of your digital life.  And I think it’ll do it through touch-ready versions of the iLife suite.

What I envision is a netbook sized device that can carry all your pictures, movies and music with you wherever you go.  And it will work either as a stand alone device or as an addition to your current Macintosh.  Going on a trip, take your music, movies and TV shows to watch.  Oh, and if you take pictures or video on the trip, download them directly via the built-in SDHC card reader (or via USB).  You can even do photo manipulation via iPhoto touch and quick video editing with iMovie touch.

Then when you get back home, you’ll be able to sync back up with your home Macintosh’s iPhoto and iMovie libraries to continue editing, or even move the videos and pictures into the professional apps, Aperture and Final Cut Pro.

I also suspect that in addition to WiFi-based wireless, it will also integrate well with your iPhone.  Need to check e-mail on the run, you can do it on your iPhone or use the integration to check it on your tablet.  I don’t expect it to have or offer built-in wireless.

The one thing I have heard recently that makes me question this a bit, is the talk of electronic magazine publishing via the tablet.  It does make some sense, but I’m still inclined away from this being primarily a static media-based device (like a magazine / newspaper reader).  Maybe it’s an addition, but I can’t imagine someone shelling out $600 or more for something like this.

I could be wrong, though.

Thoughts on our First Batch

So, it’s been a bit over a week since we really tapped our first batch of homebrew and it’s time to start reviewing what we came up with and how it seems to have worked out.  Our first attempt was to be a German light lager and the outcome was basically a German light lager.

I was a bit concerned when we first started that the first batch we brewed would be good for only low end cooking and maybe degreasing engine parts.  Turns out I was wrong.

The beer itself was generally the right color (amber in color, around a Bass or a lighter Sam Adams) and with generally the right amount of carbonation.  I did find the initial taste tests (2 bottles) to be a bit more flat than I would have preferred, but as the beer aged, it tended to pick up a bit more carbonation and more clarity.

Which brings me to my second gripe: sediment.  We don’t yet have the capabilities to filter beer, so whatever we make is unfiltered and therefore a bit cloudy.  If fact, our first couple of bottles (before the aging process was further along) tended to taste more like a wheat beer than the lager I was hoping for.  As the beer aged (especially aging in the refrigerator), the cloudiness tended to diminish and the carbonation seemed to increase a bit.  I had one last night (5 weeks after brewing and a bit over 4 weeks since bottling) and it tasted about what I would have expected.

Lessons Learned:

In chatting with the people at the homebrew store, they first recommended that I do a two-stage fermentation, meaning I take the wort and let it sit for a week in the primary fermentation tank, then transfer it to the secondary tank.  During the secondary, most of the sediment should settle out yielding a much more clear beer without the need for complicated filtering mechanisms.

Second, I needed a better racking system.  I was originally using a medical-grade plastic tube to do my racking from one vessel to another, however there were two problems with this.  First, the tubing wasn’t stiff enough, so we had a hard time trying to keep the siphon going.  Second, it was maybe a bit too small, meaning the time to move the beer was a bit too long and required too much patience.  In the end, we ended up moving the beer and at the same time, much of the sediment we had wanted to remove.

To solve both of these problems, I picked up a self-siphoning racking cane and better food-grade hose for doing my racking.  I’ll have to record how much better this system works than the last.

Things to Consider:

I do still have a few problems to overcome:

• How best to clean and sanitize the gear
• How to reduce the mess when bottling (though the second, bottling specific bucket I have may help)
• Where is the best place to hide and age the beer.  We don’t have a large enough fridge to properly age and I’m not willing (yet) to pick up an aging specific refrigerator.

What’s Next?

Our next brew is going to be a holiday ale that I picked up as a kit from the homebrew store.  It should be a bit darker than our last with hints of cinnamon and other spices.  My hope is to brew within the next two to three days and then have the beer ready for Christmas and New Years.  I have to admit that I’m a bit curious as to how this will come out.  The risks of a spiced brew like this are less that it’ll fail, but that I’ll end up brewing something no one else will like.  Only time will tell, I guess.

Bubble bubble

So about 48 hours into our first beer brewing experience, some interesting things have happened. First, the feremting appeared to happen a bit quicker that I was expecting. The kit said to expect fermentation to start within 24-48 hours of introducing the yeast. For us, it turned out fermentation started within about 12 hours, so the morning after I added the yeast, we had major bubbling from the airlock (meaning one good blrup ever 5-10 seconds).

Now, about 24 hours later, the most violent gas expansion has stopped. Now, I see a bit of CO2 being pushed into the airlock (mostly as bubbles on the inside of the airlock before the water). I'm assuming this is normal, but I guess we won't konw until a bit longer.

Our First Batch ....

One of the good points I've read about home brewing is that a good brewer takes notes on what he's done. For most, that would take the form of a notebook, but as a computer nerd, well, the obvious solution is to use my blog.

Our first attempt worked a bit like this:

• The day before:
• • Started by cleaning and attempting to sanitize our gear (including our fermenting bucket (an Ale Pail), spoon, measuring cup, thermometer and various other tools)
  • We also boiled about 3 gallons of tap water in an attempt to kill the chlorine and any other weirdness in the DC water system
• Today:
• • We took the cleaned and sanitized Ale Pail and added the 3 gallons of water prepped the day before.
  • Added 1.5 gallons of fresh water to the stock pot and brought it to a boil, leaving it for about 10 minutes before adding any ingredients.
  • Following the instructions in our True Brew German Light kit, we heated the malt extract (to make it easier to pour)
  • We then took the pot off the heat and started pouring in the ingredients (malt, hops, rice syrup solids and sugar), mixing it properly
  • Put the liquid back on the stove (perhaps not exactly following the instructions regarding what to do when the beer foams over -- take if off the heat, and repeat the process until it stops foaming)
  • We then left the liquid on the heat for about 25 minutes (give or take)

At this point we were basically done with the mixing and brewing. Then it was time to start the fermenting:

• We did so by pouring the hot liquid into the bucket with the already added 3 gallons of water.
• To bring the final quantity up to basically 5 gallons, I added 1 additional gallon of distilled water (as I didn't really want to add chlorinated tap water)
• We let it cool to about 84 degrees (not the 75 we were supposed to, but hey it was time for bed)
• At this point, we stirred in the yeast, sealed the container and are letting it ferment.

Now all we can do is wait and hope. But to recap, here are the ingredients we used

Unhopped Light Malt Extract	1 can
Corn sugar	1 pound
Rice syrup solids	1 pound
Hop pellets	1 oz
Boiled tap water	4 gal
Distilled water	1 gal

Original gravity readings (at about 140 deg as I didn't have a sanitized hydrometer as it got cool enough to be valid) were about 1.03(ish)

Getting Ready to Brew Our First Batch of Beer

So, @felioland and I have decided to take a first stab at brewing our own beer. Back in May(ish) we tracked down and bought our first set of brewing supplies (buckets, carboys, etc), but have yet to actually get around to giving it a shot. Well, looks like today is the day we get ready and tomorrow we'll brew.

As I type, our gear is being sanitized and prepped. I'll be interested to see how this comes out.

Our first batch should be a German-style light beer from a kit. (Thanks to My Local Home Brew store out in Seven Corners for the suggestion). Anyone with specific experience and ideas, please let us know.

I'm going to try and blog about our experiments over the next few batches and as I learn new things about the process, we'll try and add it to the blog. But before I begin, I do have to put a shout out to the team at How to Brew for putting together a great online reference guide to doing this properly.

Security Snake Oil: The Bogus Email Address

This is the first post in what I think may be a series of security snake oil e-mails and ideas that are forwarded my way. However, before reading this, know that the best way to handle your computer security is outlined here;

Just received this forward on how to "protect" your e-mail address book from worms:

How to protect your e-mail address book:

A computer repairman says this is like having gold. This is a good thing. I learned a computer trick today that's really ingenious in its simplicity.

First dead giveaway that this isn't real is that the fix is "simple". There's no panacea for computer security.

As you may know, when/if a worm virus gets into your computer it heads straight for your email address book, and sends itself to everyone in there, thus infecting all your friends and associates.

This trick won't keep the virus from getting into your computer, but it will stop it from using your address book to spread further, and it will alert you to the fact that the worm has gotten into your system.

Here's what you do:

First, open your address book and click on 'new contact,' just as you would do if you were adding a new friend to your list of email addresses. In the window where you would type your friend's first name, type in ' A'.

For the screen name or email address, type AAAAAAA@AAA.AAA

Now, here's what you've done and why it works:

The 'name 'A' will be placed at the top of your address book as entry #1..

First problem is that may not be the case. Just because you see it first does not mean that it'll be the first e-mail stored on the drive. Data is stored in the way that the computer can access it the quickest or perhaps as you've added it. Then when the computer goes to show you the details, it will sort that data into a human readable format. However for the worm, it'll get it in the quickest order the computer can hand it back.

This will be where the worm will start in an effort to send itself to all your friends.

When it tries to send itself to AAAAAAA@AAA.AAA, it will be undeliverable because of the phony email address you entered. If the first attempt fails (which it will because of the phony address), the worm goes no further and none of your friends will be infected.

Second place this breaks down is assuming the worm will stop on error. It won't for 2 reasons:

1. Internet mail delivery doesn't work this way. It takes the e-mail and then tells the app it's received it. The app then moves on while the mail delivery system tries to deliver the message.
2. No worm writer would stop on a bad e-mail address. Even if it did get immediate failure, it would just skip to the next address and keep going.

Here's the second great advantage of this method: If an email cannot be delivered, you will be notified of this in your In Box almost immediately. Hence, if you ever get an email telling you that an email addressed to AAAAAAA@AAA..AAA could not be delivered, you know right away that you have the worm virus in your system. You can then take steps to get rid of it!

This is the only valid point in this article. Having a bad e-mail address in your address book would guarantee a failure you may catch. However, it doesn't matter much as your computer already has a problem. And this problem could be stealing your identity, invading your privacy and generally causing problems. The best bet is not to try and catch the problem to fix it, but to keep it from happening in the first place.

True Security Options

I've seen a number of e-mails from friends and family talking about different ways to handle computer security and to ward off bad things. Almost every time what's recommended in these e-mails or articles won't help or are of at best dubious benefit. Instead of this snake oil, there are a number of things that you can do to keep your system safe. In fact, for the longest time, I didn't even use an anti-virus application and as of yet, I have not gotten a virus or malware on my system. (I've since started using one, just as a precaution ....)

The top 4 most important things your an do:

• Always patch your computer and keep your applications up-to-date. (Use Windows Update, Apple's SoftwareUpdate, or the appropriate updater for your system)
• Don't open attachments from someone you don't know
• Don't click on random links in e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, etc, especially if you don't know who it's from
• Use a hardware firewall (like a router, any router). This means you can reach out onto the Internet, but stuff outside the internet cannot reach back to you. (I generally like Linksys, but just about any company's router will do)

In addition to the above, here are a few more things you can do:

• Avoid pirated software and most music sharing sites as many of the files contain malware, viruses, worms, etc.
• Be aware that Windows by default hides the extension of a file, so the file you see as image.jpg may very well be image.jpg.exe (where .EXE is an executable file that could contain a worm, virus or some other bad thing)

This is not an exhaustive list by any stretch of the imagination, but these are the basics, like locking the doors on your house and car, keeping valuables out of sight, etc. They won't deter a determined intruder, but will save you from the drive-by and opportunistic attacks.

Keep this page bookmarked as I'll continue to add links and details as I have more.