My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on March 26, 2008

Earlier this month I noticed that the online video sharing giant YouTube was improving the quality streams for some of its content. (it is about time) They have started by offering an extra link at the bottom of some videos offering higher quality streams.

Another technique to try is by adding a bit of code to the end of the URL: Better=”&fmt=6” or Best=”&fmt=18”
EDIT: Test video for comparison: Low Quality v. High Quality.

I’ve been trying to decide if these improvements are really noticeable when encoding on my end, but haven’t been able to justify any quality improvements. I’ve adjusted my raw encoding in order to send much large ‘less’ compressed video to YouTube, although find that the upload times are hard to justify in order to gain only slightly in quality.

I’ve watch content providers like Hulu and the major television networks stream some pretty impressive Flash encoded clips, and expected to see something similar from YouTube … I haven’t seen it yet. There are other ‘free’ video streaming site which have superior video, like Blip.TV, Brightcove, Vimeo and DiVX, but I still find myself returning to the more popular Google owned YouTube. I do suspect that the shear volume of encoding requires much faster compressors and streaming which might have something to do with their quality shortcoming? Combine that with what most people are uploading (quality of original video) and the maximum bandwidth available, and high quality is probably not going to be close to that of a professional studio working with raw digital footage.

Here my testing below using a DVD for digital quality original (Lee Strobel‘s book Case for Christ made into a DVD movie) … the first 3 minute intro clip is encoded .mp4 in the recommended size and frame rate for YouTube — the second is a Flash encoded and privately streamed version.

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Posted By RichC on March 25, 2008

Of the two television programs I watch, one will end tonight: Jericho. The final episode will conclude at 10PM eastern time to a outraged fan base. Last year the show was cancelled, but when fans united to petition CBS for its return, executive gave it a second breath. (link)

Unfortunately, the number of viewers were not enough for the network and even through the nuts and well done second season of drama. This seven episode second season will be its final. If you’ve been watching, it has seemed rushed and will end way too soon for me. According to entertainment news reports, the crew wrote and filmed two endings … one more conclusive and one prepared for a third season. That said, the more final conclusion still leaves room for the possibility of “Jericho” finding a second life on cable. Oh … and thank you Sprint for advertising for Jericho …

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Posted By RichC on March 24, 2008

Now that Apple’s excellent Safari 3.1 Browser for the PC is out of beta, I figured it was time to give it a try … and its fast — faster than IE and Firefox in my quick look at surfing through sites. Apple’s promotional graphics seem to show the same thing too. (below) I’m not sure how one goes about making a browser respond faster to navigation and clicks, but its an excellent browser not only on the Macintosh line of Apple computers, but now on the Windows OS platform. As a disclosure, I run Vista OS (SP1 updated) on my notebook computer and usually Mac OS Tiger on my desktop, although I have an older Pentium Windows 2000 machine and OS 9 G4 Mac available too.

My first impression was that the software downloaded and installed better than other Apple software for the PC using “Apple Update”, most notably Quicktime. (QT is nearing RealPlayer for distasteful software) After installation the browser started without a problem and asked if it could become my primary browser, grrr — not yet Safari, you have to earn your place behind my preferred Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.12 browser. (I’ve yet to upgrade to the current Mozilla Firefox 3 beta) As I mentioned, the first thing I noticed was that it was faster.
The second thing I noticed was that the graphics on my Vista OS notebook seemed smaller the normal browser text view, and it didn’t seem as crisp. Click on the graphic to the right for a full size browser comparison showing IE 7, Firefox 2 — both at “one” setting smaller than normal — and Safari — set “normal” text setting. I do like the size of the title bar on Safari as it is less obtrusive, at least until I start loading it up with buttons, bookmarks, etc. From user stand point this smaller title bar and thinner status bar (off by default) really helps make the most out of a widescreen notebook computer as vertical screen real estate on most new notebook computers is a valuable commodity. According to Apple, the “clean look” was purposeful and “lets you focus on the web instead of your browser.”

Security: Another major concern for Internet users is how secure is a particular browser, especially with scripting and encryption of data being passed between your computer and the appropriate webserver. Safari is easily as security of other leading browsers and might offer the advantage that they are not the most popular and attacked by hackers? Secure connections (SSL and TLS) are noted by the window’s lock icon … which is at the top, providing even less of a reason to keep the status bar constantly displayed.
The progress bar which is often displayed in the status bar is also moved to the top and is creatively displayed in the URL box as the page downloads to your computer. Pop-up blocking is also included and will be appreciated as an integrated part of the browser as will a “private browsing” feature. (doesn’t cache your information — you can probably do the same by using “empty cache.”)

Several other goodies are helpful, like automatic forms filling, a snap-back feature for searching, a built in RSS feed reader and the easiest to use bookmarking system. (although I still like something available on any computer like Del.icio.us)

Conclusion, after one day: Safari is an outstanding browser with very impressive speed. Still, it will be difficult for me to switch from Firefox (PC or Mac) as I have become really comfortable with the Mozilla open-source products. Perhaps I’ll see just how I like Firefox 3 runs, and see how bloated it becomes, before making a decision one way or the other … for now, I ‘ll keep it installed on my PC.

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Posted By RichC on March 22, 2008

The Republican Party snagged me in asking for support ($$$) for John McCain’s upcoming Presidential run. Although I side-stepped the campaign donation, I did say that I would encourage others to learn more about him. To start with, I’m including a “timeline” history of John McCain below. He and his fatherand his grandfather, served the United States honorably … and from where I stand, that’s a good starting point for a Presidential candidate.

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Tags: john mccain, story, timeline

Posted By RichC on March 21, 2008

After work today I opted to download the large 434MB SP1 stand-a-lone update installer. The download went swiftly since the broadband connection I was connected to was a bit faster than dial-up. (Beware … if you dial up and the download, it could take 17 hours — click highlighted to see full image)
Most using Microsoft’s “Windows Update” will not receive the SP1 update until mid-April unless they visit Microsoft.com and download the update. Besides the long download, its advisable to back up your computer and have plenty of time to do the install. Mine took over an hour, but in the end was successful.

The updates address three different areas according to Microsoft: security, reliability and performance improvements. I’ll include the changes summarized in BetaNews.com.

Security Improvements

Provides security software vendors a more secure way to communicate with Windows Security Center.

Includes application programming interfaces (APIs) by which third-party security and malicious software detection applications can work with kernel patch protection on x64 versions of Windows Vista. These APIs help ISVs develop software that extends the functionality of the Windows kernel on x64 computers without disabling or weakening the protection offered by kernel patch protection.

Improves the security of running RemoteApp programs and desktops by allowing Remote Desktop
Protocol (RDP) files to be signed. Customers can differentiate user experiences based on publisher
identity.

Adds an Elliptical Curve Cryptography (ECC) pseudo-random number generator (PRNG) to the list of available PRNGs in Windows Vista.

Enhances BitLocker Drive Encryption (BDE) to offer an additional multifactor authentication method that combines a key protected by the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) with a Startup key stored on a USB storage device and a user-generated personal identification number (PIN).

Reliability Fixes

Improved reliability and compatibility of Windows Vista when used with newer graphics cards in several specific scenarios and configurations.

Improved reliability when working with external displays on a laptop.

Improved Windows Vista reliability in networking configuration scenarios.

Improved reliability of systems that were upgraded from Windows XP to Windows Vista.

Increased compatibility with many printer drivers.

Increased reliability and performance of Windows Vista when entering sleep and resuming from sleep.

Performance Improvements

Improves the speed of copying and extracting files.

Improves the time to become active from Hibernate and Resume modes.

Improves the performance of domain-joined PCs when operating off the domain; in the current release version of Windows Vista, users would experience long delays when opening the File dialog box.

Improves performance of Windows Internet Explorer 7 in Windows Vista, reducing CPU utilization and speeding JavaScript parsing.

Improves battery life by reducing CPU utilization by not redrawing the screen as frequently, on certain computers.

Improves the logon experience by removing the occasional 10-second delay between pressing CTRL-ALT-DEL and the password prompt displaying.

Addresses an issue in the current version of Windows Vista that makes browsing network file shares consume significant bandwidth and not perform as fast as expected.

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Posted By RichC on March 20, 2008

A few days ago I included a post about Hulu.com, an Internet based TV/Movie site, which serves up exceptionally high quality video for those with high speed connections. (previous post) Each time I visit I find even more interesting segments, including a news clip from FoxNews tailored for Hulu. Since I had mentioned Presidential hopeful Barack Obama’s connections with Rev. Wright yesterday and embedded a video, I’ll include a news brief highlighting segments from Senator Obama’s speech dealing with the anti-American and racial remarks made by Wright. There is also a short segment toward the end highlighting Senator John “McCool” McCain as he travels in the middle east. (above right — my caption for the photo; do you have a better one?)

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Posted By RichC on March 20, 2008

I was chastised by one of my friends who supports Senator Barack Obama who suggested that I relied only on news sound bites. He asked if I would “archive” the entire 37 minute speech delivered in Philadelphia on March 18, 2008? He forwarded to me so I’ll include it even though I suspect it is probably in 1000 other places. (Ok Gene?) 😉

Category: Archive, News, Politics, Video | No Comments »
Tags: barack, obama, senator, speech

Posted By RichC on March 19, 2008

Newsy couple of items from the last feel days — from politics to the economy. Here’s are the two biggies for March 2008.
First, the big news has been the offensive remarks associated with Democratic candidate for President, Barack Obama. The anti-American and racial messages from his long time pastor and friend, Rev. Jeremiah Wright have triggered a backlash of concern over Obama’s judgment and ties to the more radical element of African-American culture. (see video comment montage below) On Tuesday, Senator Obama delivered a speech attempting to distances himself the pastor of 20 years and dealing with the race issue which is still divisive in America. (NYTimes article) As an intelligent politician and excellent orator, Obama’s 30 minute speech was tailored to answer questions about race and is hoped by his supporters to put his campaign back on track. Current polling shows him significantly behind in the state of Pennsylvania, although his lead in delegate count still makes him the front runner for the Democratic nomination. USAToday shows Clinton and Obama neck and neck for the nomination.

On the Record montage of Rev. Wright

Second, the Fed has again made moves to stimulate our economy at the expense of the weak dollar. Adding more capital through any means they have, the Fed cut rates 75 basis points today; it isn’t going to make the dollar any stronger … at least in the short term. Current rates are at historically low numbers and match the lows of December 2004. The low 2.25 fed funds rate is hoped to salvage struggling banks and borrowers who have been too aggressive in both loaning and borrowing money. If you are a homeowner with higher rates and reasonable equity, now might be a good time to refinance your debt.

Reuters graphic

Release Date: March 18, 2008
For immediate release

The Federal Open Market Committee decided today to lower its target for the federal funds rate 75 basis points to 2-1/4 percent.

Recent information indicates that the outlook for economic activity has weakened further. Growth in consumer spending has slowed and labor markets have softened. Financial markets remain under considerable stress, and the tightening of credit conditions and the deepening of the housing contraction are likely to weigh on economic growth over the next few quarters.

Inflation has been elevated, and some indicators of inflation expectations have risen. The Committee expects inflation to moderate in coming quarters, reflecting a projected leveling-out of energy and other commodity prices and an easing of pressures on resource utilization. Still, uncertainty about the inflation outlook has increased. It will be necessary to continue to monitor inflation developments carefully.

Today’s policy action, combined with those taken earlier, including measures to foster market liquidity, should help to promote moderate growth over time and to mitigate the risks to economic activity. However, downside risks to growth remain. The Committee will act in a timely manner as needed to promote sustainable economic growth and price stability.

Voting for the FOMC monetary policy action were: Ben S. Bernanke, Chairman; Timothy F. Geithner, Vice Chairman; Donald L. Kohn; Randall S. Kroszner; Frederic S. Mishkin; Sandra Pianalto; Gary H. Stern; and Kevin M. Warsh. Voting against were Richard W. Fisher and Charles I. Plosser, who preferred less aggressive action at this meeting.

In a related action, the Board of Governors unanimously approved a 75-basis-point decrease in the discount rate to 2-1/2 percent. In taking this action, the Board approved the requests submitted by the Boards of Directors of the Federal Reserve Banks of Boston, New York, and San Francisco.

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Tags: fed, mp4, obama, wright

Posted By RichC on March 18, 2008

It’s wet outside … but I suppose it is better than more snow?

When our dog no longer has a place to do her business because the ground is so saturated, we’ve had too much rain! (Palm Treo 700p photo)
🙂
EDIT: Tinkering with a Twitter script in the right sidebar tonight. I’m sure the ‘widget’ will grow old, but for now the geek in me finds it interesting. A cellphone or other SMS client can send a text message which displays instantly in the box to the right. Also here’s an AP story after the heavy rains … noting that “The Great Miami River, west of Cincinnati near the Indiana state line, crested at 25.85 feet Wednesday at Miamitown. That’s the fourth highest level since 1959, when record-keeping began at that location.”

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Posted By RichC on March 18, 2008

Wow … an 83 cents per gallon spread between unleaded regular gasoline and ultra low sulfur diesel. I ran out to Krogers (grocery store) last night and noticed the fuel prices again … as we all have been noticing lately. This 83 cents per gallon spread even starts make the diesel vehicle fuel economy benefit disappear. I can’t help but believe the latest dollar per gallon increase is bound to accelerate inflation … especially since the Fed pumps more liquidity into the market. The cost of products will soon be seen in the price of goods since diesel fuel is used in farms, construction and shipping.

As for reasons … here is what the Department of Energy has to say:

Why are diesel fuel prices higher than gasoline prices?

Until several years ago, the average price of diesel fuel was usually lower than the average price of gasoline. In some winters when the demand for distillate heating oil was high, the price of diesel fuel rose above the gasoline price. Since September 2004, the price of diesel fuel has been generally higher than the price of regular gasoline all year round for several reasons. Worldwide demand for diesel fuel and other distillate fuel oils has been increasing steadily, with strong demand in China, Europe, and the U.S., putting more pressure on the tight global refining capacity. In the U.S., the transition to low-sulfur diesel fuel has affected diesel fuel production and distribution costs. Also, the Federal excise tax on diesel fuel is 6 cents higher per gallon (24.4 cents per gallon) than the tax on gasoline.

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