Technology Ramblings

Since 2001 - the holy grail for many of us build-your-own computer types was the Home Theatre PC (HTPC).  Our goal was to have 1 device that could allow us to manage and play all of our media content from Pictures and Music to Videos, Movies and Live/Recorded TV as well as have internet access.  We'd use extenders to distribute that content throughout our homes provide a rich experience to enjoy....   Whether you used Windows Media Center, XBMC or Plex, integrated with TV Cards from ATI, Hauppauge or Ceton and tried all sorts of form factors, fanless designs and special cases what have you - we have all been there in one way or another.   Throughout the previous decade, I really felt that the HTPC was going to be the cornerstone home entertainment systems and a key part of any whole home strategy.   Today after a very hard look at the state of the art - I'm saying the HTPC is dead. It's a shame in a way because I loved the 10ft UI experience - even after going through

Being a geek I am regularly updating my gear around the home - from servers to drives, networking, etc.   I'm also a bit of a pack rack - so I end up holding on to at least 1 generation back of a particular device - kind of as a backup. One of those backup devices was a Linksys WRT610N Wireless Router.  I had replaced it with a Cisco/Linksys E4200 a couple of years back when the 610 started acting a bit flaky and I really wasn't that satisfied with it's stability even though I had kept it current with the most recent firmware. The E4200 supports a number of wireless devices around the home from SmartPhones to iPads, to Laptops and Desktops in both the 2.4 and 5Ghz ranges.  Our home is relatively large at nearly 6,000 sq feet - so I've tried various techniques for expanding the wireless coverage via router location   range extenders - better antennas and/or wireless cards - the works.   The results were mixed at best. One of the devices that was experiencing issu

Just like so many folks, over the years I ended with quite a large collection of DVD and Blu-Ray based video.  The challenge was two fold - how to store and access all of this and how to avoid the media itself from getting destroyed from use - especially my grand-daughters movies that she would watch over and over again. I have tried several approaches to managing that content and trying to make it easily available for my family to browse and enjoy - but often those approaches were expensive or not very user friendly.   I know this - if it doesn't pass the wife test - so basically point and click - then the effort was unsuccessful. The following discussion is on what I use for the content I have purchased on physical media and how I created a library and ability to stream that to any TV in the house. I used the same approach to whole home video as I did with my whole home audio projects - I looked at three key criteria... Content - what did I want to be able to wat

To me one of the nice features you can add to a home is a whole home audio system.   I've have built a couple of them and while the technology choices have expanded, there are some some basic concepts and approach you can follow to insure your ending up with a system that meets your needs. The big three criteria I use in design are Content - What do I want to be able to listen to  ?   Control - How do I want to turn a zone on or off, select the content, control volume, etc. ? Distribution - Where are my "sources" for Content and where do I want to listen to content  ?.   By sitting down and laying out these criteria first - You'll get a very clear picture of your system requirements, which will then help determine your product choices. Here are some things I have learned that will help you avoid some potential headaches. First a few definitions... Source - an analog stereo input to your audio system   You will probably end up with at leasr 4 - 6 of thes

I've been an MS pro a long time - having installed every MS OS since DOS 2.0 - so yes - I'm an old guy. As many MS Pro's have done - I often installed early beta and "release candidate" builds - running them as my primary OS and then doing one final install at RTM and not look back.   That was true for Windows 2000, XP, Vista and 7.  At home I run various desktop, laptop, touchscreen all-in-ones, etc. running Windows, MacOS, Ubuntu and Mint.  With any of those OS - I always myself two questions... 1.  Can I use this day to day 2.  Would I recommend this to others. Unfortunately with Windows 8 that answer came back no - the previews were horrible and the RTM was very disappointing.   So the first time in some 30 years - I did not follow that pattern. So here we are 9 months later with Windows 8.1.   Did things improve ? Marginally... The things I really like about W8 are.. Installation - very easy and found all of my devices easily Speed -

I've always had an interest in Home Automation - and over the years I have installed and owned everything from X10 and UPB to Z-Wave, Crestron, HAI, DSC, Russound, Elan, etc.. One of areas I started looking at recently was controlling my irrigation system.   I was getting tired on my landscapers constantly changing the settings and I wanted to be able to have a little more control then just the traditional stand-alone system. So I started looking at what was possible. The traditional players - RainBird, RainDial, Orbit etc - all have commercial grade systems that you can control by computer and have weather stations, drip buckets, and use advanced models like  EvapoTranspiration (ET) to determine watering cycles.   While all very cool - they really are commercial grade and can start to get pricey.   So what if you want something simpler and more cost effective.   As I started doing some due diligence, I originally was thinking somewhat old school - so a stand alone system t

So on a recent summer trip - I spent some time with my friend's new Haswell based Macbook Air 13 and was very impressed.    While there is one part of me that does not necessarily like the lack of self-upgrade / maintenance options with the MBA form factor - the fact that it already supports the latest next generation form factor (NGFF) PCI-e hard drive and Haswell is pretty cool.    Overall the performance to me was average - partially due to low base clock speed of the Haswell ULT processor.  But what what really impressive was the battery life.   While I did not sit there and pound the device all day long, I did perform basic browsing, email and using the AirPort utility (more on that in a bit) the device ran several days without a charge when using the default power settings.   You could run for an hour - close the lid - let it sit around - come back open the lid and go.   So for some portable use cases like a day with multiple customer visits with driving, etc in between

Hi folks - my name is Jeff Zaremba - a 30+ year veteran of IT and consulting - so basically a geek.   I've always had a passion for technologies both corporate or home based and with this blog I will present my point-of-view on various technologies, architectural approaches, best practices, etc. from the personal experience.  While I'm not a professional reviewer - I'll pass along thoughts on particular products, solutions, interesting reads, etc. Hope you enjoy and I look forward to your comments...