3D Television

Two years ago I purchased a new television for my bedroom. I picked up a nice 32-inch HDTV from Sony at Costco. It was a nice purchase that increased my old bedroom TV size quite a bit, yet small enough to hide in a cabinet when not in use. We got so accustomed to watching the new TV that it was only a matter of time before I replaced the family one. That time came a few months ago and it has been nice.

I can't remember the year I bought my Hitachi Ultravision, but it was probably close to 15 years ago. I picked up a bunch of speakers and a really nice Pioneer receiver at the same time. I put everything together in my family room and had a THX certified theater in my house. I probably would have replaced the TV a while ago if I didn't worry about all of the other audiovisual equipment as well.

Finally I decided to replace both the TV and the receiver as everything is now moving away from RCA jacks and going towards HDMI connections. My experience with the TV in my bedroom had me looking at Sony products and I decided to get one of the R550 televisions capable of 3D. I also picked up a nice receiver with a ton of HDMI inputs. It arrived on a Friday and I had it all set up before going to bed.

I had resisted getting the movie Avatar on DVD or Blu-ray until I got a 3D capable television. So the next day, I hit the local discount store and picked up a Blu-ray copy that was way overpriced. I have to say that it was spectacular. Not wanting to buy another expensive movie, I downloaded Jack the Giant Slayer from Sony's PlayStation Network for $5. The movie was only mediocre, but the 3D effect made it well worth my time to watch.

Yes, I will admit that 3D is a gimmick. However I have to say that I really enjoy watching movies in 3D. I even turned on the simulated 3D while watching Chasing Mavericks and the waves were really spectacular. Considering that the price difference between a 60-inch television with 3D and one without is only $200, I highly recommend spending the extra money. I also recommend Sony's R550 series as they use the same passive 3D glasses that you get at the movie theater. The only problem is that you may never want to leave your home again.

Two Weeks Backpacking

My sons and I just completed a 2-week backpacking trip at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. It was one of those character-building experiences that I think every young man should have the opportunity to experience. Every day you hike to a new campsite where they have various programs in which you can participate. Some of our activities included shotgun shooting, touring a mine tunnel 500 feet into the side of a mountain, rock climbing, repelling, and various campfire programs.

The only technology we took on the trip was our mobile phones in case of an emergency. While most of the time, they would not work, we could climb to the top of a mountain and get a signal and call home. One of the other boys on the trip brought a Goal Zero solar panel to charge his camera and it worked very well. All he did was hang it off his backpack while hiking and at the end of the trail, he had a fully charged camera. My oldest son was also able to use it to charge his mobile phone after discovering he had an Internet signal at one of our camps. After a couple of hours of Internet surfing and reading e-mail, his phone was almost dead.

I have to admit that it was good to get away from technology for a while. The only downside was that I had over 600 personal e-mail messages and 350 work-related ones when I returned. It took me a long time to get through all of my mail. Now I need another 2 weeks off. I just don't want to have to deal with that much e-mail again.

The Bus Ride

I am at the Oakland airport waiting for my flight back to Salt Lake and had an interesting experience on the bus ride to get here. My son and I parked our borrowed car in the off-airport long-term lot. They had a shuttle bus to the airport and it didn't take long to fill up. Traffic is really horrible in the Bay Area this week because of the BART strike and so I had time to look around and notice what everyone on the bus was doing as my son was busy with his smartphone. It turns out that anyone under the age of 30 was on their smartphone. I laughed as I watched young couples ignore each other in favor of watching their miniature screens.

My son looked up as I chuckled thinking about the texting conversation the young lovebirds facing us were having on their phones. It went something like this:

Boy: This is cool. We R on this crowded bus & nbdy can hear R conversation.

Girl: LOL.

Boy: What do U think of those 2 in front of us?

Girl: They look like father and son

Boy: They could be brothers

Girl: No, 1 looks much older. He's cute

Boy: What? Which one?

Girl: The Dad

Boy: R U kidding?

Girl: No, look how handsome he is

Boy: But he's fat!

Girl: No he's not. Look how sure he is of himself

Boy: And bald!!!

Girl: It makes him look distinguished.

Boy: R U crazy?

Girl:  Y, R U jealous?

Boy: R we looking at the same guy?

Changes at Microsoft

I was in a meeting this afternoon and someone mentioned that the head of the XBox One is leaving Microsoft to go to Zynga. I didn't believe it at first and so I looked it up on the Internet as soon as I had a spare moment. Yes, it looks like Don Mattrick is headed to the folks that brought you Farmville. Now let's see if he can't help them create another product that is as successful as their first one. It is a tall order that Zynga has thus far failed to duplicate.

With Mr. Mattrick leaving Microsoft, what does that mean for the XBox One? Did he not believe in his own product? Or was the offer so good, it was worth going to a company with a ton of cash, but no visible future products? No matter the answers to those questions, Microsoft finds itself with yet another hurdle to overcome with its forthcoming console release.

In the meantime, Sony continues to march forward with the PlayStation 4 release. You can preorder a PS4 bundle from their Sony store. I'm not sure if the bundle shows retail prices for products, but if it does, then their equivalent hardware to Microsoft's Kinect is only $60. That means in an apples-to-apples comparison, the PS4 is $40 less than the XBox One. It will be interesting to see what other changes we will see before either product is launched.