The HP w2408 Vivid Color Widescreen LCD monitor is the most expensive computer monitor I’ve purchased to date weighing in at a wallet bleeding $599 USD. You can see the complete specs on the Best Buy sales page here. I ponied up for the extra $79.99 for the 4 year extended warranty and after tax the whole purchase rang up a little over $730 USD. PriceProtectr, fast becoming my favorite site and best website friend of 2007, emailed me this morning to tell me the price already dropped $30, so I’ll be heading back to Best Buy to get my $30 back. Nice.
I’m not the type of guy who will typically spend more than a couple hundred bones on a monitor, but we’re on a bit of a mission to slowly replace the old CRT monitors with LCDs and am really happy with the HP w2408 so far. Let’s start with words you see when you first open the box:
It’s true, computer’s haven’t felt very “personal” for awhile. The HP w2408 has a very friendly feel from unpacking and setting up to powering on for the first time, complete with a picture with color step-by-step instructions gently taped to the face of the monitor.
The last LCD monitor I bought had me bending and twisting to figure out where to plug in the cords, but with the 90 degree turn of the HP w2408, you can simply twist into portrait mode (1200×1920 max resolution) and plug in the cords on the right with hardly any bending at all. You can use VGA or DVI-D and yes, it does come with the DVI-D cord.
Note: keep enough room so when you twist back and forth between modes, you don’t knock anything over. This prompted me to clean some of the clutter off my glass desk. Thanks HP!
Once you move the monitor back into the traditional landscape mode (1920×1200 max resolution), the cords neatly protrude from the back, snaking their way to the computer. There are 4 USB ports, two on the left side (landscape) and two in the back, which are handy for plugging and unplugging conveniently. There are rear speakers built into the monitor, but they are not very loud or useful; will probably want to stick with your existing speakers.
As I’m getting older, no surprise, my eyes aren’t quite what they used to be. The HP w2408 has an ambient light sensor which adjusts to the light around the room and provides a sharp, but not overly bright display. There are different settings available at the touch of a couple buttons on the bottom or left side (portrait mode): movie, photo, gaming, text and custom.
Here is landscape mode:
Here’s portrait:
You can see both sidebars on the homepage of Hmm at 1920×1200 with the window fully maximized. For convenience, I wish there was a button on the monitor to push to switch between these modes rather than having to right click on the desktop and change the orientation.
So far I’m using the monitor mostly in the portrait mode at full resolution (1200×1920) which is fantastic for reading web pages and longer text documents. I can place two decent-sized Firefox browsers and play the new Reel Deal Ghost Town slots (not real gambling) from Phantom EFX for fun all on the same screen:
Summary and grade
As mentioned at the beginning, this is my most expensive monitor purchase ever, but it’s easily the best quality monitor I’ve ever owned. The colors on the screen are vibrant and crisp. The 40″ Samsung HDTV we purchased in July has DVI-D and VGA input too and could serve as a monitor, but at nearly four times the price as HP w2408, that would make for a really expensive computer monitor.
$500-600 was about as much as I was willing to pay for something that could produce full 1080p attached to a computer, which will definitely come in handy editing the Hmmcast HD videos. For those who can put this in their budget your eyes will thank you. This monitor comes highly recommended with my only gripe thus far being the subpar rear speakers. Grade: A-
Had a good birthday celebration yesterday of which you can probably guess which year by the picture above. Although a few folks disagreed with me about sharing birth dates online, it was nice receiving some automated happy birthday messages yesterday, as well as some direct ones via email, Skype and otherwise. Thank you to all who sent along birthday wishes.
Wasn’t online that much yesterday actually, spending most the day shopping which made my wallet emptier, but so far no buyer’s remorse over the goodies. Here’s what the spread looks like:
1. HP w2408 24″ LCD Monitor HD 1920×1200 maximum resolution. This will replace my 19″ LCD monitor, referencing the post title, sorry if you thought it was something else
DVDs
2. Stargate Atlantis Season Two — die Wraith, die!
3. Stargate Atlantis Season Three
Went into a full scale Van Halen the David Lee Roth (DLR) years mode by buying basically every studio CD with all the DLR tracks. Then I made an iTunes playlist and set to randomize all 62 tracks (can you believe that’s all that there are?). Most of those first six albums are rocker heaven. Already had the CDs for VH 1 and Fair Warning but needed to add the following.
Van Halen CDs - David Lee Roth era
4. Van Halen II
5. Women and Children First
6. Diver Down
7. 1984
8. Van Halen Best Of Volume 1 (2 additional David Lee Roth songs)
While at the store, I noticed some good CD deals on the Van Hagar era and decided to grab those CDs too. The only one I didn’t spring for was the two-CD best of set with the last three Van Hagar songs, the most recent CD they produced. Just couldn’t see spending $20 on that one. It will go down in price as soon as something comes out of the current tour. While I haven’t seen a live CD mentioned yet with Wolfgang on bass, I’d be surprised to learn the microphones weren’t recording.
Van Halen CDs - Van Hagar
9. 5150
10. OU812
11. For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge
My oldest son encouraged me to get the best Blue Oyster Cult album ever: Extraterrestrial Live of which I’d previously bought thru iTunes my favorite BOC song: Veteran of a Psychic War. Only $9.99 for the CD at F.Y.E, the “nice price” — oh yeah!
Other CD
12. Blue Oyster Cult Extraterrestrial Live
And today is NFL Sunday? A great weekend continues, go Seahawks! Hope all your weekends are rocking.
Time for my mea culpa on one of the most popular posts ever at Hmm, Lists of 1080p games for the Xbox 360 and PS3: I was wrong to declare the Xbox 360 the victor in the 1080p arena at the time. They have never had more native 1080p titles than the PS3. Never, never, never.
Retraction good enough? I’ve also edited the original list post by striking through the mistakes and this post will be trackbacked to the comments so anybody who reads that list can read and see my very public correction. Duped by the advertising, I should know better. Not putting blame on anybody else but the guy in the mirror.
Now what if you just bought a 1080p TV and you want to experience some native 1080p gaming and watch movies at 1080p (HD-DVD or Blu-ray)? That continues to be the thing I’m most interested in. Let’s see where we’re at today, September 29, 2007.
PS3 has *22 more native 1080p titles than the Xbox 360
*number as of this post publishing, to see the most current numbers, see the two lists below:
The PS3 game boxes are much more honest about which games — and yes, the Sony PS3 has more native 1080p games than the Xbox 360. I’ve edited the above lists to more clearly show native 1080p titles (highlighted in dark green) versus box advertised 1080p titles on the Xbox 360. I’m not sure a list is even needed for native 1080p titles on the Xbox 360 because there are only 2 titles to date: NBA Street Court and Virtual Tennis 3, not a very impressive list.
As for recent titles in native 1080p on the Xbox 360? Bioshock? Nope. Halo 3? Heck, it’s not even 720p, it’s 640p. And the numbers get even worse when you compare Xbox Live Arcade to the Playstation Store. There are currently no, zero, nadda, goose egg native 1080p titles in the Xbox Live Arcade while there are 9 titles in the Playstation Store. 9-0. PS3 wins.
Why create and maintain a list of what the game boxes show?
The PS3 has better truth in advertising than the Xbox 360 as of this writing.
I couldn’t find anybody else out there that was covering what the back of the game box says versus the truth. I’m sure the game company lawyers have it all figured out that by using the word “supported” they aren’t using any legally deceptive advertising, but if you are new to the world of 1080p you should immediately be suspicious of the terminology “supported” when talking about 1080p. Supported probably means upscaled and upscaled is not the same thing as native.
I know after writing the original post, seeing the significant amount of discussion at other sites, the feedback I’ve received directly and in comments here that this is an issue of great debate and concern among gamers. Instead of adding to the confusion, my goal has been and continues to be to cut through it and get to the truth. If you just bought a 1080p TV, Xbox 360 with HDMI or PS3, what games are native 1080p? The lists are both pretty small overall, with a mere 26 titles available in native 1080p for both game consoles.
That’s it, 26 total native 1080p titles for both systems.
Sorry to disappoint you on the gaming front but you can probably tear through playing all these games before Christmas. And if you’re hoping Microsoft will put more native 1080p games under your 2007 holiday tree or Xbox Live Arcade menu, history and current reality would suggest otherwise. The PS3 continues to regularly release new titles at native 1080p. My only updates for the Xbox 360 since the original list have been 1080p listed on the box.
And here is the truth in advertising
Microsoft, you need to do a much, much better job of clearly explaining on game boxes what is and isn’t native 1080p. There are literally dozens of upscaled 1080p titles on the Xbox 360 from the native resolution of 720p all marked deceptively — in my opinion, again, I’m sure the lawyers covered your butts — as 1080p. Yes, these games may support 1080p, but that’s not what many customers think when they see 1080p on the back of the game box and make a purchasing decision.
Compare this scenario to how Sony is treating 1080p titles on the PS3.
I haven’t been able to confirm even one title on the PS3 where the back of the game box shows 1080p and the title isn’t native 1080p. If anybody reading can confirm game box deception, please use the comments below to share your story. Nor can I find any titles being advertised in the Playstation Store as 1080p that aren’t native 1080p. I’m not saying Sony doesn’t have customer deception problems — remember the whole root kit mess? — but in this particular situation they look better than Microsoft.
For example, check out a recently released title’s game box Warhawk picture below:
In black and white:
Supported HD video output: 720p, 1080i.
Now why do games like Dead or Alive 4 (pictured top of the post) show 1080p and Warhawk doesn’t? You tell me. The only guess I can make is deception and that’s not a very friendly or warm guess.
Is native 1080p that big of a deal, really?
Inquiring gamers want to know.
Does it even matter if a game is native 1080p? I don’t have the best eyes, but the games I’ve played at native 1080p do appear a little sharper, the images have a crispness that isn’t seen at 720p. Yes, it’s a minor difference, very minor, but I see something. Maybe it’s all in my eyes though because I’ve read plenty of other gamers with 1080p capability who claim they can’t tell any difference at all. I’m not trying to be part of some holy war between consoles here, I like both consoles, I’m simply sharing what I see. Or think I see. Maybe it’s some Jedi mind trick.
Also worth repeating is that the Xbox Live Dashboard doesn’t look nearly as good as the Playstation interface. This is more easily seen. Sure, it could be how our TV is upscaling the dashboard and on a different TV the differences wouldn’t be as clear. We also have the HD-DVD player for the Xbox 360 and I think the Blu-ray movies look better. A lot better? No. A little better? Yes.
Consult the Ultimate Rock, Paper, Scissors guide and pull off 22 additional moves like: gun, dynamite, nuke, lightning, devil, dragon, alien (the Spock sign, oh yeah!), water, bowl, air, moon, sponge, wolf, cockroach, tree, man, woman, monkey, snake, axe, fire and sun.
So the next time somebody is beating you at this game, just pull off the alien sign and say gleefully: “Aha! Alien vaporizes rock, force fields scissors!
Unless they countered with paper. Which, naturally, disproves alien. Fun stuff, well done.
“Well, OK. Gotta get after it somehow. I’m not overly concerned HOW the sausage gets made. I just want to eat.”
Oh Gerald, you can’t really be serious, can you? So you’d enjoy the stolen TV the neighbor gave you even if you knew it was stolen? Web scraping is a violation of the TOS of most sites and considered very, very bad netiquette. Unless/until Mint stops using scraping, I’ll be passing on their service. I don’t care if they are the most promising new financial Web pooh point app on the planet, how much they may or may not be able to make managing our finances easier and so on, scraping without permission is unethical behavior.
If Mint — or in this case their contracted provider Yodlee — can’t or won’t get the information through legitimate means — IE. cutting deals with financial institutions and using APIs — why should I trust them with any of my username and passwords? If they can’t follow the Terms of Service of other sites, why should I believe they will follow their own privacy guidelines with my or your sensitive financial information? What else will they fudge in the effort to provide a useful service to us? Sure, they are using TRUSTe and probably keep an otherwise clean kitchen, but this is a corrosive detail.
I covered why screenscraping is bad from a developer perspective over two years ago. My feelings on scraping, if anything, have hardened on the subject after continuing to see web app after web app acting like scraping is some kind of reliable business model or the right thing to do. And in a financial application where trust all around is essential, scraping is the rock chip in the windshield, soon to spider unless filled.
This situation probably puts Mint in very uncomfortable position at very inconvenient time. It is ironic how life of a startup can depend on such a seemingly small thing. Web scraping has always been a shady business and I am surprised that Yodlee has gone with it so far.
Sorry for the cliche but just because somebody can doesn’t mean they should. Mint’s freshness, for me at least, has gone stale. Maybe I’m in the minority caring about these kinds of details, but so be it. I don’t just blindly do things because they are popular and/or provide me some benefit.
The fan reviews are starting to trickle in, most are positive from what I’m reading thus far:
Reza: “I’m back to my hotel from the Charlotte concert (drove over 500 miles from Florida to see this!) and let me tell you one thing: it was the best Van Halen concert I have ever seen!!! I have seen every VH tour since 1985 (with Sammy , Cherone and Dave solo) and this was by far the best!” George M: “Wolfie sounded good. A la the rehearsal reviews, he does a pretty good job on the background vocals as well. He seemed relieved when the show was over, but also not that nervous as people say he was at the LA rehearsal.” Halleen: “It was a nostalgia show, they are old, they made mistakes. Hopefully they’ll get better as the show goes on, I’m seeing them in LA in two months.” Hiphopaddict: “I have to say that it was one of the most amazing concerts I’ve seen in my life. The energy was spectacular. Dave and Eddie seemed to jive off of each other very well. I thought Wolfie did a great job as well.” jimmyw: “I saw one guy after the show, walking by me and he was shaking his head. I looked at him and said “That was great, wasn’t it?” He replied “I can’t even describe how good that was.”" smashism: “[Wolfgang] absolutely RUINED “Unchained” — which WOULD HAVE BEEN the highlight of the night, except that when it got to the “come on Dave, gimme a break” line Wolfgang stepped to the microphone and in a cracky 16 year old’s voice said “Come on Dave, uh, give whoever you’re talking to a break.” Serious WHAT THE F**K epic fail moment. It was as if the entire stadium all looked around at each other with a look of “HUH?”" pacfanweb: “With [Wolfgang] and Eddie singing, the backing vocals sounded good. You can definitely tell Mikey isn’t there, though. Wolf can hit a lot of the same notes, but not with the same power…and let’s face it, lots of people can hit the same notes, but everyone has their own tone. The backing vocals are just fine.”
The “Unchained” Wolfie quote is bizarre but overall it seems fans were pleased. Be sure to read the whole thread, those are just a few quotes I pulled that stuck out to me. The setlist — warning: spoiler — can be found at the end of the post here. Sounds like 26 nostalgic tracks, all from the pre Van Hagar days as rehearsed.
Our VH ticket situation
Ticketmaster sold out of two seats together for both the Seattle and Portland shows right away, so as of this writing we’re still ticketless for the upcoming Dec 3 show in Seattle. Vancouver BC (about 3 hours north) goes on sale tomorrow. If we don’t get tickets there, we could be hitting the secondary market and paying a premium. I was hoping not to have to pay more than $100 a ticket — and maybe still won’t — but because of the volatility of Eddie and David Lee Roth this could be the last opportunity to ever see these guys playing together.
As many others are saying, I hope they find some way to include Michael Anthony. And for those who want a taste of the concert, I’m sure videos of the first show will be there soon, if they aren’t already.
Van Hailstorm on Sirius Buzzsaw 19
Note to fellow Sirius subscribers (thanks Blabbermouth): every night at 10pm EST on Buzzsaw channel 19, Ian Christe, author of the VH biography Everybody Wants Some: The Van Halen Saga (pictured, above right) is playing a few tracks, including some rarities, and telling VH stories. You can also enter for a chance to win Van Halen concert tickets. I entered, you never know.
With the exception of the somewhat obscured permalinks, I’ve been thoroughly enjoying Gullible.info, which I recommended to Kent last week, a blog which serves up facts (they are facts, right? Er, wrong.) like the one in the title of this post and others like:
Sep 27: “While approximately 42 percent of Americans over the age of 45 can read music, only eight percent of those aged 18 to 45 are able to.” Sep 23: “Seventeen percent of Americans under the age of 20 have never ridden a bicycle.”
Sep 3: “US $100 bills of series 2003A and later will not burn.”
Hmm-inspiring stuff, isn’t it?
Back to the remembering your license plate factoid. I have lousy success remembering our plates and have to go out and look every time they’re needed, but figured there would be a higher percentage of people who remembered theirs nationwide. 93%? That’s a fairly high percentage (and the dead giveaway that it’s fake). I mean really, it’s only seven digits. Seriously though, can you remember all your non-vanity license plates?
[For those curious, I made the “Iforget” license plate shown in this post using the ACME license plate maker, which can be found in the growing sign generators post (destined to become a dedicated page).]
(Update 5:03am PST: The title of the blog should be a giveaway that these facts are, in fact, not facts — I added this to the humor category because the “facts” just feel like they could be true.)
Halo® 3 has officially become the biggest entertainment launch in history, garnering an estimated $170 million in sales in the United States alone in the first 24 hours. The Xbox 360™ title beat previous records set by blockbuster theatrical releases like Spider-Man 3 and novels such as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
What game has been being played nearly non-stop when not sleeping, at school or work on two of our four Xbox 360s? Halo 3. Me? I still haven’t played even one second of Halo 3. This might sound funny, but I like watching good players go at it over playing the game myself. I can appreciate art.
World Cyber Games
Speaking of spectator sports, the kids will be pulling themselves away for next week’s World Cyber Games [worldcybergames.com] at Qwest Event Center from October 4-7, 2007 enjoying hundreds of the world’s best gamers and $500,000 on the line.
The games in the competition include: DOA4 (Xbox 360), Warcraft III: Frozen Throne (PC) and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 8 (Xbox 360). None of the Halo trilogy of games is on the list.
Event attendance costs $10 per day. At the recent PAX (Penny Arcade Expo) in Seattle they were handing out free passes like candy.
Some believe Gene Simmons has over-marketed Kiss, others think he’s a genius and the rest are somewhere between.
When Simmons followed in The Osbournes footsteps producing a reality TV show I thought it would be really weak, but I caught a couple episodes through the Xbox Marketplace of the show Family Jewels and it was better than expected.
Gene Simmons isn’t playing the tongue-wagging Demon of Kiss, he’s makefup and marriage free with his former Playmate girlfriend, Shannon Tweed, and mother of their two kids Nick and Sophie. It’s a different side of the demon.
PVR The Family Jewels this weekend
Just heard about this from Long Paul on Sirius 19 Buzzsaw.
For those who have A&E on cable or satellite, this coming weekend they are running a 14 hour Family Jewels marathon starting Sunday September 30 at 5pm (EST, I think, see A&E TV schedule). Get your PVRs ready.
Yesterday I was looking for firsthand accounts of the details behind how the Nintendo Fan Network worked. After going through the turnstyles at the Mariners double header yesterday, here are the step by step details to get connected and start using the Nintendo Fan Network:
STEP 1. Download the small application wirelessly from the Nintendo DS Download Station. You need to be fairly close to these small booths with the Nintendo logo for your DS to find the application. You’ll find them in the following locations:
Along the concourse near the signs in sections: 108, 116, 123, 134, 227, 238, 314, 327, 333 and 344. Also in front of suites 27 and 55 and in the Diamond Club and Bullpen.
STEP 2. You can either purchase a NFN authorization code or use your credit card to buy NFN access. The cost is $5 per game. Yesterday was a bonus, $5 bought access for both games. You’ll be given a card with a code that you enter in later.
STEP 3. If this is your first time, click on Register New Use on your DS and choose a username and password.
STEP 4. Enter in your seat section, row and seat separated by spaces. So if you were in section 123, row 19, seat 9, you’d enter it as follows:
123 19 9
STEP 5. Choose an option from the menu pictured above. The red numbers are explained below:
1 - Food & Beverages. If you want to order food and drinks you have to enter in a credit card number, name and zip code of the billing address. It will be saved to your account so once entered, you don’t have to worry about it again.
2 - Broadcast Video. With this option you can watch a slightly delayed (a few seconds behind) TV broadcast of the game in progress. Video quality of the game is decent, however the graphics that show on the scoreboard, like the trivia is pixelated and difficult (in some cases impossible) to read.
3 - MLB Stats & Standings. Reference the detailed player statistics. You can sort the lists by name or position. This came in handy a few times when we wondered about specific players throughout the games.
4 - MLB Games in Progress. Check in on other games happening around MLB.
5 - Fan Network Games. A few casual games you can play if you’re bored with the game.
6 - Fan Network Messaging. You can send and receive messages with others around the stadium on the Nintendo Fan Network. The messages you can send other NFN users include canned messages like: “Bad call, the umpire got that wrong” and “Where are you sitting?” You can send custom messages to the NFN representative. The one at the game yesterday was named Pat and he responded right away when I messaged him a question about the service.
Other thoughts about the Nintendo Fan Network
Disappointing that the snacks menu doesn’t have any garlic fries. That’s a Safeco Field tradition. Some other examples of pricing which includes taxes: beer is $7.25 where you can get for $6.75 from the vendors walking up and down the aisle. A Philly cheesteak and fries cost $11.95.
I asked the woman at the Nintendo DS Download Station if this service would be back in 2008 and she said it would with a slight graphical difference. She didn’t know how many other stadiums would be getting the Nintendo Fan Network. Overall, I’d say it was a cool experience and think it adds to the experience. My friend who isn’t very technology-oriented thought it was fun.
My DS was fully charged and made it through the entire first game and to the fifth inning of the second game.
With the exception of the somewhat obscured permalinks, I’ve been thoroughly enjoying 
Some believe Gene Simmons has 
