• Not enough safety technology: Tesla represents itself as a technology leader, and the touchscreen user interface is impressive. But I want my next car to have leading automotive technology. Tesla doesn’t offer front collision detection and pre-braking, lane detection, active lane correction, blind spot monitoring, or active cruise control. All wheel drive would be nice as well. In this price range, competitors are offering these features. These features shouldn’t be needed very often, but when they are, they could save lives, and are therefor important to me.
• Annual fee to maintain warranty: Tesla tries to make it sound like they are doing their customers a favor by charging an annual inspection to not void the warranty. However, there is no published maintenance schedule nor are there are details of the work performed during the inspection. There is a comment on a Tesla blog post talking about how an Apple technician couldn’t diagnose a cracked laptop screen over the phone because he was unable to “see” the screen, so therefor Tesla needs to “see” the car to maintain the warranty. I disagree. Tesla needs to improve their diagnostic capability. Or they need to include the inspections in the price of the car. No other car manufacturer voids the customer warranty if the dealership isn’t paid an inspection fee. Tesla can choose this approach, and I can choose a different manufacturer with a more consumer-friendly warranty.
  • Update 2013-April-26: Tesla has changed the warranty and no longer requires the annual inspection to maintain warranty.
• Battery Replacement within 10 Years: I tend to keep my cars a long time; one is 10 years old and the other is 14. Engine replacement within this timeframe is pretty much unheard of; Tesla battery replacement is almost guaranteed. Tesla does offer a pre-payment on the replacement, but this doesn’t seem like the best way for me to invest my money, given the uncertainty of future battery technologies and the company itself.  I also have concern regarding the warranty replacement policy for the battery. Tesla has not specified how much the life has to decrease over what time period to be covered. Without clearer guidelines, I don’t have much comfort from the 8-year battery warranty.
  • Update 2013-April-26: Tesla has changed the warranty and now offers unconditional 8-year battery coverage.
• Unpredictable delivery window and price increase: I decided to place the deposit to avoid the price increase announced late in 2012.  The estimated summer 2013 delivery window was the timeframe I wanted. But then I started reading in the forums that certain configurations (largest battery, air suspension) could be available substantially sooner. Or maybe not. I needed a better time commitment earlier in the process – like I did with the 2 previous cars I pre-ordered from other manufacturers. If you’re going to make me pre-order, give me the option of specifying a summer 2013 delivery date without the possibility of me having to scramble to deal with finances because delivery will take place 6 months sooner than expected with less than 2 weeks notice.
• Software bugs: I no longer want to spend my time tinkering with technology that doesn’t work as anticipated. Especially not in something that costs as much as a Tesla does. Other automotive manufacturers have extremely rigorous software test procedures. Forum posts indicate that bugs are pretty common with Tesla, and the bugs can be fairly substantial and even vehicle disabling (rebooting, unexplained software-induced overnight total battery depletion, etc.) I’m sure these will eventually be fixed, but they should never make it to production in the first place.
• Not Fun Enough To Drive:  I’m looking for a car that is fun to drive. The Tesla Model S instantaneously produces massive amount of torque, and that is very rewarding to the driver. But beyond that, I didn’t find it that sporty or engaging. Manual transmissions help connect the driver to the car; electric motors give a smooth and luxurious (but somewhat disconnected) experience. I’m looking for the former. I also thought the automatic regenerative braking engaged too aggressively when lifting off the throttle pedal, making me a little motion sick. My daughter felt the same way. This feature can be disabled so regeneration occurs only when depressing the brake pedal; an intermediate setting would have been my preference.

Although I’m canceling my reservation, I still think Tesla is onto something. They got me to consider purchasing an electric car. The car is beautiful, the (optional) 7-seat, hatchback, 2-trunk configuration is very practical. The 85 kW battery version has enough range to make daily driving (and nightly recharging) practical. However, I think longer road trips are best handled by vehicles with internal combustion engines because they can be refueled virtually anywhere in less than 10 minutes. And in the end, there are a lot of automobile manufacturers that offer very nice vehicles with fewer ownership compromises.

Update 18-March-2013:  An hour and twenty minutes into my run, my headphones died – permanently. The battery was well over 50% charged. I could not get them to turn back on. I plugged them into the charger, and the green LED illuminated, suggesting that they were already fully charged, which could not be the case. Even with the green LED illuminated, they refused to turn on.  Obviously, this is very disappointing. I’ll contact Jaybird and hopefully get the issue resolved. I’ll give an updated as the situation progresses.

Pros:

• Fantastic Sound Quality: The sound quality of the Bluebuds X is really impressive. There is absolutely no hint of compression artifacts from sending the sound over the Bluetooth wireless connection. There is no background hiss. Highs are very crisp and detailed; bass is strong. I’m guessing that Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR (enhanced data rate) helps facilitate this.
• Comfortable and Don’t Fall Out:  They fit very well. When walking around the house, they stayed in my ears well even without the retention cushions installed. But when running and sweating, the retention cushions were required to keep them from slipping out and were also comfortable.
• Controls Located Where they Should Be: The control buttons are located exactly where they should be, which is about 3 inches down from the right earpiece. The buttons are pronounced above the control pad surface and easy to find. They depress with a discernible click.
• Microphone Location: Unlike Apple and Klipsch headphones, the microphone is located on the same side of the control pad as the buttons, so when the buttons are facing outwards, the microphone isn’t against your face.
• Great iPhone Integration: The battery level of the headphones is shown on the iPhone menu bar and all music and sounds are automatically sent to the Bluebuds X. Volume controls work as expected (although the sound is paused for a brief moment while a volume reference beep is played.) Single clicks of the center play/pause button works just like Apple headphones. Pressing and holding the center button activates Siri.
• Voice Prompts Make Everything Easy: The pairing process was extremely easy: the recorded voice of “Jenna” gives directions and status updates during the whole process. Status updates are also given for powering on and connecting to a source device. No blinking lights or beeps to decode. I didn’t have to consult the manual once and successfully paired with my iPhone the first time. I can’t ask for anything more.
• No Annoying Flashing Light: I hate headsets with annoying flashing LEDs to show that they are on. This is not a problem here; the LED only comes on during power on/off, pairing, and to indicate a low battery.  Pressing the volume up/down button will cause it to flash, and also let you check if it’s on without turning it on if it’s off.
• Standard Micro USB Charging Cord: The Bluebuds use a standard standard micro USB cord, so you can share chargers with other devices. The charging port is hidden under a nice-looking plastic cover that is attached
• Flexible Sizing: 3 sizes of different silicon ear tip sizes; 3 sizes of ear “cushions” to help keep them in your ears
• Clips to Shorten the Cord: A pair of clips allow the cord to be wrapped back over itself, resulting in a shorter cord length.
• Sweat-proof: I had no issues during 2 hours of heavy sweat workouts. I’m assuming that I won’t based on the lifetime sweat warranty.
• Nice case: I like the clam-shell case. It holds the Bluebuds on one side and has an elastic strap on the other half to retain the charging cord.
• Flat Anti-tangle Cords: The cords are flat to help reduce the likelihood of them tangling. This worked very well in my experience. The charging cord is also anti-tangle.
• Pairs with 8 Devices: 8 is alot; I’m very happy that I can pair with my iPhone 4S and my MacBook Pro. The Bluebuds use Bluetooth 2.1 + ERD (Enhanced Data Rate)

Cons:

• Battery Will Die: Unless you recharge it all the time, at some point, these headphones will die on you during the middle of a workout. It’s one more maintenance task to add to the list. They will slowly lose charge when not on, so don’t expect them to stay at 100% for weeks if not used. I’ve also had issues where the “20-minute shutdown warning” wasn’t given (turned it off before the warning, when I turned it back on it apparently has drained below the threshold and died about 15 minutes later.)
• Occasional sound drop-outs. Around my house, about once every 3 minutes, the sound will drop out for about 0.5 seconds. It’s brief enough to not be too annoying. This never happened when I was out for a run; the connection was flawless then. But around my house, it would happen with my phone about 12 inches from the Bluebuds. I assume it’s due to interference from other wireless devices using the same spectrum, such as WiFi.
• Bass is very good but not the very best I’ve heard: The bass sounds good. But it doesn’t quite measure up to the awesome-but-yet-not-overpowering bass of my Klipsch S4i Rugged headphones. Most people wouldn’t complain, but there is a little room for improvement.
• Buttons are All the Same Shape: It’s hard to figure out which button your finger is on without first  right button feeling around on the control pad.  This is because they are all 3 the exact same shape and size. I prefer the discrete shapes of plus, triangle (play), and minus used by Klipsch.
• Blocks external sound: When used with the silicon ear tips, the sound quality is great, but external sounds (such as traffic) are significantly reduced. When out for a run, this is a concern. Removing the silicon tips and using only the retention cushions address the issue, but at the expense of any bass reproduction.
• Some controls not intuitive: Double-clicking the center button redials, where as on wired headphones with iPhone control, double-clicking jumps to the next track. To get to the next track, press and hold volume up; previous track is press and hold of volume down button.

Conclusion:

When out for a run, the lack of a cord is fantastic. Being able to change my shirt or put my back over my shoulder without pulling the cord is more of a joy than I thought it would be. It solves my first-world problems. But, it’s a trade-off between the annoyance of a cord vs. the annoyance of the occasional drop-out when around other wireless signals such as WiFi. And I’m surprised that I’m willing to live with that trade-off.  For critical music listening, I still prefer my Klipsch S4i Rugged headphones, but when exercising (which in when I used my earphones the most), the Bluebuds X rule.

After going through the Apple setup instructions on my Mac (in iTunes, go the Advanced menu and select Choose Photos to Share… and select either iPhoto or Aperture library) and on my Apple TV (Settings > General > Screensaver), I was viewing photos.  My first impression was extremely positive.  The Ken Burns effect I’d selected was beautiful and the pictures slowly zoomed in and out with perfect fluidity. It wasn’t until a couple of hours later that I noticed *the problem*.

The Problem is that, of the 10,000+ photos on my computer, only a couple of hundred of them are ever displayed by the screensaver. You start seeing repeats pretty quickly. When I select my Aperture Photo Library to be the screensaver, I expect to get my entire Aperture Photo Library. Especially when the Apple Setup instructions show a library containing 11,535 photos.

The problem lies with how the Apple TV (Gen 2 and Gen 3) handles the screensaver photos.  It caches a subset of the photos in the small internal flash storage and then cycles through this cache.  It never connects back to the iTunes host for more photos.  Ideally, the screen saver would stream the entire photo library from the host computer, just as it does for music and video.  It’s a streaming device after all. It would be OK to revert to cache if the iTunes computer isn’t available, but it should switch back to streaming the entire library when when it is.

I wasn’t surprised to find that there are many others having the same problem.  I was surprised to find that it was first reported on the Apple Support Communities in October, 2010. Apple hasn’t acknowledged the problem, other than apparently deleting a poll asking other users if they also had the problem.  It’s a fix that would be easy for Apple to implement, but for now, it appears that I must resume my search for the ideal digital photo frame, which may involve using a Gen 1 Apple TV instead.

Option 1 – Hidden Menu within the Netflix App to Deactivate your Device: this should work for any device as Netflix requires every manufacturer to include it. Please note that this does not deactivate your Netflix account itself, just your device, requiring you to log on again.

1. Open the Netflix app on the device
2. Once the app is open, even if it is displaying an error message, hit the following buttons on the remote:  up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, up, up, up, up, up.
3. A system information screen will be displayed. You can deactivate the device in this screen.
4. Exit the app and and then restart it. You should be prompted to logon to Netflix.

Option 2 – Deactivate All Netflix Devices:  This should should also work for any device; the only draw-back is that it deactivates Netflix on every device you own and you have to re-logon again on each one.  If the first option doesn’t work, try this one. Please note that this does not deactivate your Netflix account itself, just your devices, requiring you to log on when you next use them.

1. Logon to your Netflix account through your web browser.
2. Select “Your Account” in the upper Right corner
3. Under the Settings section, select “Manage devices and computers”
4. Select the “Deactivate” option
5. Now open the Netflix app on your Blu-ray player
6. You will get an error message that the device has been deactivated and that you’ll need to log on again.
7. You may then get the same connection error message (I did on my Panasonic Blu-ray player.)
8. Exit the Netflix app and start it again.
9. You should now be prompted to logon to your Netflix account.
10. Please note that you’ll have to log on to Netflix again on all of your devices, not just your problem device.

Option 3 – Factory Reset of the Panasonic Blu-ray Player: There are 2 different reset procedures for Panasonic Blu-ray players. The basic reset that is done through the setup menu on erases some settings; it does not clear the Netflix settings. To resolve the Netflix logon problem, you’ll need to do a full factory reset though a hidden service menu that is only displayed on the front panel of the player. Here’s the process:

1. Note: this works on Panasonic DMP-BDT 220, DMP-BDT 320, and DMP-BDT 500 Blu-ray players. The procedure may be the same for other Panasonic models as well.
2. Power off the player
3. On the remote control, press and hold the following buttons at the same time for 5 seconds:  [OK]  [B ] [Y]
4. “00 RET” will be displayed on the front panel
5. Press the [Right] arrow button several times (should be 2 times) until “08 FIN” is displayed on the front panel
6. Press and hold the “OK” button for 3 seconds.
7. Wait about 10 seconds, then Power On the Blu-ray player
8. You will now go though guided setup, and you’ll be asked for your Netflix username and password when you start that app.  Please note that you will need to logon to all apps that you use on your Blu-ray player again, including your VIERA Connect password.

One of these options should solve your account access problem.  Obviously, this problem is quite a pain for the user because none of these solutions are obvious.

Be careful when choosing a Netflix player:I purchased my Panasonic Blu-ray player because it could access all of the online content I wanted and it played DVDs and Blu-rays as well. I thought to myself, “why would I buy a Roku or AppleTV?” Well, now I know. The menu system on the Panasonic Blu-ray player is horrible and the software updates are problematic.  It’s pretty good for playing discs, but there are much better ways to connect to online video streaming services.

If you still have problems, you may also want to try the suggestion on this page.

What Exactly is 4K (and 8K) Resolution?

The previous specification for HDTVs is based on the 1080p standard, which has a resolution of 1920×1080 (2.1 million) pixels. The UHD resolutions are based on multiples of this resolution with the same 16:9 (1.78:1) width-to-height ratio.

4k resolution doubles the number of horizontal and vertical pixels (versus 1080p HD), giving approximately 4 thousand (4k) vertical lines. More specifically, the resolution is 3840×2160 (8.3 million) pixels. In traditional terms, 4k could be called 2160p. This standard is also know as QFHD (Quad Full High Definition, or 4x the resolution of HD 1080p.)

8k resolution give four times the number of horizontal and vertical pixels vs. 1080p HD.  This gives approximately 8 thousand (8k) vertical lines. More specifically, the resolution is 7680×4320 (33.2 million) pixels. In traditional terms, 8k could be called 4360p. 8k offers 16 times the resolution of 1080p HD.

The ITU and the Consumer Electronics Association have officially dubbed 4k and 8k resolution as Ultra High-Definition (or Ultra HD, or UHD, or UHDTV, or Super Hi-Vision.)  This UHD name technically applies to both 4k and 8k, regardless of which of these resolutions it is.  However, most manufacturers are clarifying the UHD nomenclature by specifying 4k UHD and 8k UHD.

Digital Cinema 4k has a resolution of 4096 x 2160 due to a slightly wider aspect ratio of 1.90:1.  This aspect ratio would not be found in typical consumer products.

Will I be Able to Notice the Additional Resolution?

To be able to detect the additional resolution of 4k (or 8k), the screen must be large enough and you must sit close enough. So how do you know if your particular setup would benefit?  Here’s your answer.

Based on the resolving ability of the human eye (with 20/20 vision it is possible to resolve 1/60th of a degree of an arc), it is possible to estimate when 4k resolution will become apparent for the average eyeball. Using the Home Theater Calculator spreadsheet as a base, I created a chart showing, for any given screen size, how close you need to sit to be able to detect some or all of the benefits of a higher resolution screen. (Click the picture below for a larger version.)

(For those of you not used to reading charts: screen size is on the horizontal axis; find your screen size and go straight up until you hit the 4k line.  Follow it to the left. That is your minimum seating distance to fully benefit from 4k resolution.)

What the chart shows is that, for a 84-inch screen, 4k resolution isn’t fully apparent until you are at least 5.5 feet or closer to the screen. For a “tiny” 55-inch screen, you’ll need to be 3.5 feet or closer. Needless to say, most consumers aren’t going to sit close enough to see any of extra resolution 4k offers, much less 8k.

1080p 3-D Content on Passive (polarized) Screens

There may still be one benefit these screens can offer and it’s when watching 3-D Blu-ray movies. There are two types of 3-D glasses: more expensive Active Shutter glasses and lower-cost Passive Polarized Lens glasses. Active Shutter glasses deliver the full screen resolution to each eye; Polarized Glasses deliver only half the screen resolution to each eye (540 instead of 1080 vertical lines)

4k allows all 1080 lines to be visible when using Passive Polarized glasses, so long as you are sitting close enough to view 1080p (see chart above.) You wouldn’t be able to get the full benefit from 4k 3-D, but 4k content doesn’t really exist anyway.

What about 4k and 8k Content?

If you are among the rare few who has a giant screen and sits close enough to it to benefit from 4k resolution, will you still see much benefit? The answer is still “Probably not.” Regardless of screen resolution, the source material needs to have the same resolution as the display to see any real advantage. Video Processors will upscale any input to 4k resolution, but upscaling only offers a marginal improvement. Until true 4k and 8k content is widely available, which is a long way off, you are better off saving your cash and getting a 1080p HD TV instead.

As of this writing, the only readily available content source for 4k is the Sony PlayStation 3, and it can only display static pictures (not moving video) using the HDMI connection. This may be worthwhile for photographers, but probably not for anyone else.

In conclusion

The benefits of 4k and 8k are marginal at best. You have to sit unrealistically close to see the full detail and you also need 4k and 8k source material, which is virtually non-existent. If you want a 3D TV that uses Passive Polarized Glasses, you will be able to view 1080p content at full resolution. If you want to use a PS3 to view 4k photos, you could benefit from 4k. And if you use it as a computer monitor to view high resolution source material, you could benefit. Other than that, save your cash and purchase 1080p instead.

ISF states the the most important aspects of picture quality are (in order): 1) contrast ratio, 2) color saturation, 3) color accuracy, 4) resolution. Resolution is 4th on the list, so look at other factors first. Also, be sure to calibrate your display! I recommend the following for calibration.

Recommended Calibration Tools

• DVD: Digital Video Essentials
• Blu-ray: Spears & Munsil High-Def Benchmark Disc (my favorite)
• Blu-ray: Digital Video Essentials: HD Basics (most popular)
• Automatic Calibrator: Datacolor Spyder 3

“Just tell me what resolution HD TV to get”

If you don’t like reading charts and are looking for a quick answer, enter you screen size below to see how close you’ll need to sit to fully appreciate various screen resolutions.

What if the Enclosure Fails?

If you’ve enabled the hardware-based encryption, the data on the drive is completely inaccessible without the encryption chip in the Western Digital enclosure. So a simple failure of the USB or power connector can mean your data is gone. Even if the drive is removed from the enclosure and connected directly to a computer, it will be unreadable because the hardware encryption chip is missing.

I’ve read that the drive may be readable in an identical Western Digital enclosure, because the encryption key is stored on the drive itself and not within the chip. Buying a new MyBook Elite enclosure, removing the new drive, and installing your old drive may allow for data recovery.

If the USB connector or power supply connector fails and encryption is enabled, your best option may be to repair the USB connector on the enclosure/board. A local TV repair shop or technical school is where I would start looking for help. You probably just need the connector soldered back on to the board. See this article for instructions on how to open the case and remove the drive/circuit board.

If other components on the board itself fail, your only chance of recovering the data is to remove the encryption chip from the failed board and transplant it to the board from an identical working Western Digital enclosure – this is not a cheap or easy thing to do. it’s much more difficult to de-solder and re-solder chips than it is USB or Power connectors.

What if the Drive Itself Fails?

If the drive itself has failed, and not the enclosure/circuit board, you must perform data recovery on the drive and enclosure as a pair. You will first need to decrypt the drive using the Western Digital utility and then use something like Runtime.org GetDataBack data recovery software (free demo available.)  If you send the drive to a data recovery company, be sure to tell them the drive is hardware encrypted and send both the enclosure and the drive.

A Better Alternative to Hardware Encryption

I would never use hardware-based encryption with an external hard drive. Hardware Encryption is somewhat more secure than software-based encryption because both the password and the encryption chip are needed to decrypt the drive. But for external hard drives, the encryption chip and drive are in the same enclosure. If a thief steals it, they get both the chip and drive.

If you do want to encrypt your drive, I highly recommend a software encryption program such as TrueCrypt. For external hard drives, it’s every bit as secure as the hardware encryption and, if the circuit board or enclosure fails, you can remove the drive and attach it to a computer/different enclosure and still decrypt and access the data.

See this article for instructions on how to open the case and remove the drive.

Protect your data with offsite backups:

If you encrypt your drive, data recovery is even more difficult, so I strongly recommend using an online backup service.  So if your external drive fails, or in case of a catastrophic event (fire, theft), there is still a secure copy of your data.  I’ve had great experiences with Backblaze online backup, which give unlimited storage for $4/month.

First, you will need to install the following dBpoweramp files:

1. Install dBpoweramp CD Ripper and Music Converter.  You will need to use either The PowerPack Version ($24; 3-week free trial) or the Reference version ($36; 3-week free trail.) I use the PowerPack version.
2. Install the dBpoweramp FLAC codec (free)
3. Install the ReplayGain lossless volume normalization plugin (free)

Note: It is possible to achieve the same results using the free software Exact Audio Copy (see this post for configuration details), but I find that dBpoweramp is easier to configure, is easier to use, has a fantastic file format conversion utility, and it has access to 4 total metadata providers for accurate tag creation. If saving $24 is more important than ease-of-use and time spent retagging files, EAC may be for you. Otherwise, dBmc is the way to go.

Once you have the programs installed, follow these configuration instructions:

1. After installing dBpoweramp Music Converter, run dbPoweramp Configuration. If FLAC (or equivalent lossless codec) isn’t installed, install if from this window.

2. Open “dBpoweramp CD Ripper” and click the Options button.

3. Check the boxes for both Secure Ripping Method and AccurateRip. Then click “Secure Settings” button under Ripping Method.

4. Click Detect after the following window appears.

5. CD Optical Drive caching is being detected.

6. CD Optical Drive caching detected and configured. Click OK to continue and OK again to close the Settings/Options windows.

7. Click OK to save Options and return to dBpoweramp CD Ripper.

8. If it appears, do not check the box for Read Lead-in and Lead-Out unless you have issues with extracting the beginning of the first track of end of the last track.

9. Now instert a popular CD from your collection. You need to find one that is in the AccurateRip database, and you may have to try several.

10. When you insert a CD that is in the AccurateRip database, the following box will automatically display and AccurateRip will auto-configure.

11. Select the output file format as FLAC; compression level 8 will give smaller files but will take longer to encode on slower CPUs.

12. Download and install the ReplayGain utility (previously called DSP Effects) from http://www.dbpoweramp.com/codec-central-utility.htm

13. Select the DSP tab and then add ReplayGain as the DSP effect. Select both Track and Album gain.

14. ReplayGain should now be shown as a DSP effect.

15. I recommend the following settings for folder and file names: [IFCOMP][IFVALUE]album artist,[album artist],Various Artists[]\[year] – [album]\[IFMULTI] Disc [disc] – [][track] – [artist] – [title][][IF!COMP][IFVALUE]album artist,[album artist],[artist][]\[year] – [album]\[IFMULTI] Disc [disc] – [][track] – [title][]

16. This how compilation CDs will be named using my settings.

17. This is how multi-CD sets will be named using my settings.

18. Done! You are now ready for bit-perfect, lossless CD ripping.

A Note on AccurateRip Confidence: After ripping a CD, you will see and AccurateRip confidence number. This number represents the number of people that extracted the exact rip as you just did. So the higher the number, the better, but a low number isn’t necessarily bad. Here are some examples:

• If all tracks on a CD give a confidence of 12, except 1 which has a confidence of 0, then there is probably a problem with that zero confidence track.
• If all tracks are 0, either the disc is heavily damaged or the CD isn’t in the AccurateRip database.

An overview of the jailbreak & tethering process:

• First, I used this guild to jailbreak my iPhone (with 3.1.2 firmware) and enable internet connection tethering. It took about 5 minutes total.  http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2009/11/03/tutorial-how-to-tether-on-an-iphone-3g-or-3gs-running-os-3-1-2/
• I then made a PayPal donation to blackra1n.com (the app that does the jailbreaking) because I couldn’t believe how easy the process was.
• I downloaded the Cydia app installer from within the Blackra1n app.

Essential Cydia Apps:

Here are the Cydia apps that I think are essential. I’d love to see Apple duplicate the functionality they provide. (In fact, Google Android phone already give most of this functionality.) Search for these apps by name within Cydia:

• SBSettings: Quickly turn Bluetooth, WiFi, 3G, Airplane mode on or off. It’s accessed by swiping your finger along the top of the screen (from the carrier logo on the left to the battery icon on the right.)
• WinterBoard: This allows complete re-theming of the iPhone user interface. I happen to like the default look, but I wanted to display a weather icon in my status bar. This program is a prerequisite for any other apps that modify icons, so install it ASAP. (I found out the hard way and made my iPhone unbootable. I had to restore from backup using iTunes because I tried to use features that required Winterboard but it wasn’t installed.)
• Backgrounder:  Allows apps to run apps in the background so you can switch to other apps. This is especially useful for GPS applications. While the app you want to run in the background is running, hold the Home button for 2 seconds. A pop-up will confirm that it’s now enabled to continually run in the background. When you click the Home button, you can open other apps, and the backgrounded app keeps running.
• WeatherIcon: Displays the current temperature and icon in the top status bar and also on the application icon of your favorite weather app. I set it to update conditions every 30 minutes instead of every 1 minute to conserve battery. Note: By itself, the app gives the text for temperature. To get the icon, WinterBoard and the Klear Weather Icon Theme (or Katra-based Weather Icon Theme) are required – but be sure to install WinterBoard first!
• Lock Calendar: It turns the lock screen into something useful: a list of all upcoming calendar entries.
• GV Mobile: If you use Google Voice, this is currently the only way to get an application on your phone. I was available through the iTunes App Store but has been since removed.
• Other apps: AutoSilent to automatically silence the ringer during meetings based on calendar entries and time of day. InSpell for red underlining misspelled words in all applications. MyWi for tethering / 3G connection sharing.  Kirkae for switching between running/backgrounded programs.

Do you think Apple will add these features in the next iPhone update? Are there any essential Cydia apps I’ve missed? Let me know in the comments.

Update 11-Dec-2009: TheAppleBlog just posted a list of 10 must-have jailbreak apps and there are some that I’d missed. Check out their list of 10 must-have jailbreak apps.

Update 22-Jan-2010: Unfortunately, my iPhone 3Gs locked-up and went into a reboot loop.  I had to put it into recovery mode and restore from backup to get it working again. I feel that it’s related to jailbreaking, because the lockup happened as soon as I hit the button to turn on the screen. It froze before I could unlock it, but it displayed the “Searching…” for network status at the top left (which I frequently noticed after jailbreaking) and I was in an area with strong coverage. I’m convinced that the network dropouts, and also very poor EDGE network performance, were from jailbreaking. So I’m giving up on the modified carrier settings and on any apps that seem to “dig deep” into the iPhone operating system, like SBSettings, WinterBoard, and InSpell.

This demonstrates questionable ethics, by the web designer if not by the company itself.

Update: An employee of the business contacted me.  Their web designer used the photo without permission from the business owner, who didn’t monitor the site that closely. My photo has been removed.

The Album: For the past couple of weeks, I anticipated the arrival of the latest Dave Matthews Band album: Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King. For the first time since I was in college, I sat down in a dark room and listened to an entire album, start to finish, with no interruptions. For the first time in 11 years, I think Dave Matthews Band has released a great studio album.

The album starts off with a beautiful, haunting saxophone solo by LeRoi Moore. I was overcome with sadness, realizing at all that was lost musically and otherwise, when he passed away last year. But just as the sadness peaked, the album made a sudden and unexpected shift directly into the horn-heavy, hard-driving, and upbeat song Shake Me Like a Monkey. The song Alligator Pie has The mood, tempo, and instrumentation changes throughout that represent the best of everything that is Dave Matthews Band, both new and old. The album ended and I sat in the dark room, reflecting, and then the “hidden” track at the end started about 30 seconds later, with a saxophone feature, a dissimilar but none the less perfect bookend to the into to the album.

I think multiple listens are required to fully appreciate the musical complexity and lyrics of a song, much less an entire album. But you do know if you want to listen to it again, and I do.

I’ve been a fan of DMB for 16+ years, and I can’t help but reflect on all of the changes in my life and compare them to the current-at-the-time music of the band. From college to graduation to employment to marriage to fatherhood, there have been DMB songs/concerts/memories to help track the timeline in my mind. I’m glad there is something new and positive to echo my current chapter. And at the same time, I lament all that has  been lost along the way.

Why can’t they get “Dave Matthews Band” right? The first thing I did with the CD was to back it up to my server. I use dBpowerAmp Muisc Converter to do  bit-perfect backups of CDs. I’ve paid for the annual subscription to make sure I get the best meta data possible (description: PerfectMeta™ uses 4 providers: AMG, GD3, MusicBrainz and freedb simultaneously to get the most accurate album details.) So how does this quadruple-verified data get the band name wrong — twice?? The artist name is not “Matthews, Dave Band” — it’s “Dave Matthews Band”.  The album artist isn’t “Dave Matthews” — it’s “Dave Matthews Band”! The labels provide this data. Why can’t they get it right for a band that released dozens of albums under the same band name?

Anthem Audio Quality: As I mentioned earlier, this is the first time I sat down and listened to a complete album in years, and the first time ever since adding an Anthem Statement D2 to my home theater. I can’t believe how awesome the room sounded playing from a “low quality” 44.1 kHz 2-channel CD. At first I thought it sounded 3-D, but the more I listened the more I was convienced it was 4-D (and I don’t even know what that is, but it’s better than what I thought it was.)

I used the Anthem Logic Music mode, which subtly adds multi-channel resonance using 7.1 channels. It’s targeted at highly damped home theater rooms and recreates the effect of a 2-channel setup in a room with lots of sounds reflections.  (Rooms designed for 2-channel need low acoustic damping and lots of reflection; multi-channel setups need  high damping and minimal reflection. A room has to be setup for one or the other because both sound terrible if you target the middle ground.) In addition, the D2 is capable of the full-spectrum frequency correction for all 8 speakers. This combination makes this is the is by far the best sounding system I’ve even owned. Anthem really knows what they’re doing in terms analyzing a room and making it sound great. It brings 2-channel audio to life in a manner that is true to the original recording without gimmicky surround effects.

Bourbon: There’s no way I could listen to an album entitiled Big Whiskey without sipping a glass while doing so. My friend Bryan Willett introduced me to Blanton’s Single Barrle Bourbon Whiskey over the weekend and Nicole picked-up a bottle while in Lexington. It offers the smoothness that a Scotch can’t match but it has enough complexity to keep the flavor interesting. I sipped it uncut but on the rocks. Highly recommended.