Roku has a “Contra Code” Secret Screen for Wifi Antenna Settings

UPDATE (5-31-16): Gardner Lonsberry has created an info. graphic containing TONS more secret screens for Roku.  Scroll to the bottom to get the skinny.

Remember the Konami code that got you 30 lives in Contra (and other stuff in other games)?  Well there’s a similar trick for your Hulu Stick to get you to a “secret screen” with settings for the Wifi Antennas and a couple of other things.  It might not be as exciting, but it could be more useful (depending upon your priorities).

From the Home screen press…

• Home x5 (press home button five times)
• FF (not the pad arrow)
• Down (on the arrow pad)
• RW (not the pad arrow)
• Down (on the arrow pad)
• FF (not the pad arrow)

I was having a lot of frustration with the Roku in our kitchen dropping signal.  This is particularly aggravating, because when it happens the show you are watching disappears, then you have to wait a while for the Roku to reboot and get through the incredibly annoying “dancing Roku” screen, then you  have to navigate back to the content you were watching.  This is not fun when you’re just trying to watch something while quickly making a sandwich and getting back to work.

So after messing with the location of my router and trying to optimize it’s settings and power output, I went looking for tips on how to optimize signal reception for the Roku.  The Roku site basically blames your router and tells you to make sure it’s not by a window, in a sealed lead box (along with your kryptonite stash), or in your basement, but they don’t give you anything REALLY useful like the information here.

The secret screen is labeled “Platform Secret Screen” and the first screen shows you how your Roku us currently functioning (temperature, IP address, SSID, Channel, N, RSSI, SNR, remote MAC address, remote battery level, etc.).  There are also options for System Operations Menu, Disable Travel Connect, WiFi Remote Menu, and WiFi secret screen.  Unfortunately none of these let you change the four dedicated content provider buttons at the bottom of the remote, but the WiFi Secret Screen is extremely useful.

On the WiFi Secret Screen there is a signal level meter for combined signal strength, antenna 1, antenna 2, and also a meter for glitch/sec.  This allows you to move around your Roku to optimize your reception.

This page also has Resets, Interference, Radios, and Power, so you can optimize your settings.

Setting my radios at TX 1 RX 1 kept my signal strength consistently at 22/23 (other settings were around 16-18 and fluctuated a lot more).  After trying different interference settings, I found “reduce non-WLAN interference” to be my best option.

Obviously your settings will depend upon your specific situation.

p.s.  If after getting things where you want them with your wifi reception you want to check the signal speed of what’s coming into your Roku, Vudu (a free channel with purchasing options for content) has a speed test under “info and settings.”

…

Props:

When searching for a solution to my Roku drop-out woes, I found most of this information on Richard Loyd’s YouTube channel here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1GZO8e_KJo

The updated secret screen shown above is actually a lot more robust (there are more options, settings, and measurements) than the one Richard posted in his video from August 24, 2014.  This leads me to believe that Roku will be supporting and updating this feature into the future.

Cutting the Cable: One Year Later (a real world experience)

It’s been nearly a year since I cut the cable, so I thought I’d provide some thoughts on my experience, what has worked, what hasn’t, what I actively use.

For some time, the center of “cutting the cable” was a good HTPC (home theater computer).  This was where the physical media was streamed from, and also the access point for the television to actually show programs/media from the internet.  While a home theater PC is still a great tool, it’s getting easier and easier to get by without one.

I am set up with a NAS (network attached storage -in my case a Thecus N5550 with 5x 3TB RED WD drives for a total of around 11TB of media storage), and a Roku stick on each of our TV’s (one in the bedroom, one in the living room, one in the kitchen).  We also have the original television antenna that was installed on our roof around 1963, and it does a fantastic job of pulling in nearly 30 HD broadcast channels (for free). The broadcast television signal is processed through an older TV Tuner Card (Hauppauge 1196 WinTV-HVR-1250) that I purchased in 2010 and have installed in an older computer (from 2007) that we use as an HTPC (home theater computer).

Plex has become a major part of our media set up.  It’s a program that will push content to Roku from your NAS (and various other places, but I’m mostly concerned with getting my media from my NAS to my television, and that happens via Plex and Roku).  Plex has a subscription based online experience with various channels and content, but the actual channel/app for your Roku is offered for a one time purchase of only $5, and it is WELL worth it (you can try it first for 30 days free).  You also need to have a server running the Plex Media Server (I installed a free Plex Media server module on my Thecus NAS so all the media is streamed using the Plex Server from the NAS –but you could just as easily stream content from a PC).

Plex is able to convert media on the fly, so anything you throw at it is converted to h.264 and fed to your Roku over wifi.  I was allowing Plex to convert VOB’s from my ripped DVD collection (all ripped from DVD’s I own, for those keeping tabs), but I have recently begun converting a lot of my movies and ALL of the TV shows on the server to h264 using HandBrake and/or MakeMKV.  Plex does an “ok” job of converting on the fly, but if the files already exist as h264, you get a MUCH MORE streamlined media streaming experience (read: no delays or hiccups when watching).  The h264 files at the same native resolution also take up a LOT less space than VOB files (which are MPEG-2).

I am still using the HTPC (an actual computer), but funny enough, we use it mostly just to watch Hulu (you can’t get Hulu on your Roku unless you pay for HuluPlus, and I’m not interested in paying $10/month for a service that DOESN’T eliminate the commercials (what the hell?!)).  Also, from what I understand reading other people’s complaints about HuluPlus, it doesn’t even offer all of the content on Hulu free (again, what the hell?!).

I am close to finalizing our over-the-air recording set up (broadcast TV recorder) that will allow me to stop using Hulu altogether.  We pretty much only use Hulu to catch up on Network TV that we’ve missed throughout the week, so once I am recording all those shows with a PC/TV tuner and the broadcast signal from the aerial antenna, we’ll be able to stream the recorded programs from the NAS via Plex/Roku and will no longer need Hulu –or an internet connection, for that matter.

We’re actually already set up to record broadcast TV (just Windows Media Center on the bedroom HTPC), but it’s a part of an HTPC that has to be physically hooked up to the TV, and I’m working on getting it moved elsewhere, and then automating the record/convert-to-h264 for Roku streaming process and we won’t need an attached HTPC cluttering up the bedroom or making noise where we’re trying to watch/sleep.

Recorded TV: you can set up XBMC (free media software) with a third-party recorder like NextPVR to record TV from signal using a tuner card in your PC, but I prefer to just use Windows Media Center, since it comes with Windows and doesn’t require any additional work (Windows 7/8 come with television recording ready to go –you just have to buy a TV Tuner Card).  There are also other software programs you can use to record live television with a PC Television Tuner Card (often they come free with the TV Tuner Card).

If you’d rather go the XBMC route, here’s a post on Lifehacker showing how to set up the software (again, it’s a bit more complex than just using WMC).

The only problem I have with WMC (Windows Media Center) is that it records to a proprietary format (.wtv) that’s really just a container file for video encoded using the MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 standard and audio using MPEG-1 Layer II or Dolby Digital AC-3.  Some people have had trouble converting the .wtv format to h264 with Handbrake, but to date (knock on wood) I haven’t had any issues; it’s been working great for me.  I just use Handbrake to convert the files recorded by WMC directly to h264 for streaming.  If it doesn’t work for you, you can try right-clicking the WMC file (the .wtv file) and converting it to the older Windows Media Player format (.DVR-MS), then converting that file to h264 with MakeMKV and/or Handbrake.

So outside of the stuff we stream from the NAS (ripped movies and television shows from recorded over-the-air and ripped DVD’s), we use Roku to stream from Amazon Prime, HBO, and some PBS (and will likely start streaming Netflix again in the near future).  I’ve tried using Roku channels like the History Channel, but the content is limited to a couple of episodes of each show so once you’ve watched the channel, it’s basically “used up” until they refresh the content in a week or a month).

A lot of the “cable channels” on Roku are set up this way.  You can watch one or two episodes of each show, but that’s it.  Some of the channels will allow you to subscribe to see all their content, but I’m not willing to pay $30 to watch a season of a single channel when sources like Amazon Prime have tons of content (thousands of shows and movies) for one, much lower, subscription price.

So, to recap, I rip DVD’s to h264 and put them on a NAS (network attached storage, 11TB of media that is always on and available).  I also record Network TV from an old fashioned television antenna that receives almost 30 broadcast channels (in HD resolution) over the air.  The ripped DVD’s and recorded television are converted to h264 (.mp4 or .m4v) for streaming from the NAS via Plex on the Roku hooked up to each television.

We also watch movies and television from Amazon Prime (paid subscription), HBO  (Comcast has added streaming HBO to a couple of their ISP packages, including Internet Plus and Blast Plus, see image below), and soon Netflix again (we dropped it for a while, but are going to sign up again).

 
(here’s a full screen shot with address bar to “prove” the free HBO with internet is coming directly from Comcast)

We have almost cut out the HTPC (the home theater computer), and the only thing that might be missed will be direct access to the internet (but almost all content accessed directly from the internet can be found through other plug-ins/apps/channels/routes).

We are doing quite well without paying for cable.  I think some people would miss the “ease” of channel surfing, but I actually like the control of a more specific and intentional media watching experience.

There are also TONS of options for streaming to your tv from your phone or tablet (things like Twonky, Roku Screen Mirroring, various content provider apps, etc.) as well as Boxee, Apple TV, Xbox, Chrome Cast, Amazon Media Fire, etc., but for us, an antenna with a PC tuner card, NAS, Plex, and Roku are what we find serve us best (and for so much less cash than a cable subscription!).

…

The Ongoing Saga of Netflix

The hilarious letter received today…

Dear Daniel,

It is clear that for many of our members two websites would make things more difficult, so we are going to keep Netflix as one place to go for streaming and DVDs.

This means no change: one website, one account, one password…in other words, no Qwikster.

While the July price change was necessary, we are now done with price changes.

We're constantly improving our streaming selection. We've recently added hundreds of movies from Paramount, Sony, Universal, Fox, Warner Bros., Lionsgate, MGM and Miramax. Plus, in the last couple of weeks alone, we've added over 3,500 TV episodes from ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, USA, E!, Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, ABC Family, Discovery Channel, TLC, SyFy, A&E, History, and PBS.

We value you as a member, and we are committed to making Netflix the best place to get your movies & TV shows.

Respectfully,
The Netflix Team

The whole “we’re constantly improving our streaming selection” made me laugh, considering my queue just went from around 250 shows to less than 150 (those 100 shows were removed from the Netflix catalog).

Browsing Amazon Prime Instant Video Titles is a Horrible, Horrible Experience

Part of the ongoing “Can I end my cable subscription yet?” conversation is which online streaming providers are a necessary and/or viable part of your media delivery arsenal.  Amazon is making a rather weak bid by simply providing content as part of their $79 a year shipping subscription program.  Kind of like a growth on an otherwise great countenance, some people will view it as a beauty mark; others will view it as a mole.  And I guess you can’t really bitch about something that’s free… but I’m going to.

So my question is this: why is no one discussing how incredibly awful Amazon Prime Instant Video’s browsing/navigation experience is?  I Googled the topic and found nothing but general comparisons of Netflix and Amazon (mostly regarding number of titles) with no mention whatsoever of the INCREDIBLY ABYSMAL title browsing experience put forth on the Amazon site.  The only way to browse APIV titles online is via the regular Amazon shopping interface.  This means you can only see 12 titles at a time.  How long would it take a person to view “more than 10,000” titles if you can only browse 12 at a time?!

Not only that, but the Amazon Prime sign up page states that there are over 10,000 instant videos available, yet under “video definition” filter on the left-hand side of the page only 126 HD titles and 668 SD titles are shown.  It’s been a while since I’ve really had to do much math, but I’m fairly certain that 126 plus 668 does not equal over 10,000 (and only 126 HD titles is pretty laughable).

You also can’t add titles to a queue (thus, when you want to watch, you have to search for a title specifically).  You can create a special “wish list” for saving only Amazon Prime Instant Videos, but a wish list is an even more painful navigation experience.

Under the “unlimited instant video” drop down at the top of the Amazon page is a link called “your video library.” However, “your video library” only stores purchased video, thus you can’t add Amazon Prime Instant Video titles to “your video library.”

There is also no integration with Windows Media Center (there is integration with WMC for “your video library,” but as previously mentioned, you can’t ad APIV titles to your video library, only paid titles).

How does Amazon expect to compete with the other streaming providers if they won’t address navigating content?!  I guess on price alone.  So for now, Amazon Prime Instant Video is kind of like that off-brand mp3 player from 2003 collecting dust in your closet:  yeah, you have it, and technically it plays music, but it’s so painful to actually use that you never will.

Windows Media Center PC (Breaking the Shackles of Cable)

After years of thinking and talking about, I've finally got a Media PC (also called HTPC or Home Theater PC) up and running.  I had been waiting for this and that, but as with all things technology, you have to just jump in the pool at some point.  I went the less-cred/much easier route of building around Windows Media Center instead of building an XBMC box.  Yeah, you can customize the hell out of XBMC, but I know I'm going to be using a Win 7 PC, and I'd like my girlfriend and guests to easily be able to use the system, so WMC it is.

Hardware

• MOBO with many internal SATA ports (at least 6), Gigabit ethernet, and many external USB/eSata ports, and I decided on a motherboard with on-board HDMI video instead of an additional video card (one less component to buy and manage)
• 128GB SSD for system drive
• multiple 2GB hard drives for file storage (in RAID or just as is)
• Hauppauge 1250 tuner card with remote (yes it works to control Windows Media Center)
• As many silent fans as your case will accommodate (I've got six fans in mine, and it's still pretty quiet)
• BluRay/DVD/CD burner

Software

• Windows 7 Professional (thus Windows Media Center)
• AVG antivirus
• MalwareBytes (anti Malware)
• Launchy (I don't like shortcut icons cluttering my desktop)
• iTunes
• Airport Utility (for streaming audio to a Mac Airport via iTunes or Airfoil)
• Hulu Desktop (I’ve actually stopped using this, because I like watching Hulu with AdBlock in Firefox)
• Hulu Desktop Windows Media Center plug-in (again, no longer using because I don’t use Hulu Desktop anymore)
• Amazon Unbox (for playing Amazon Instant rentals and purchases in WMC -doesn't work for instant streaming; to my knowledge, nothing does)
• DVD Decrypter I’ve switched to HD Decrypter; it breaks a lot more encryption (for ripping purchased DVD's to my hard drive)
• AdBlock Video (doesn't work for Hulu Desktop, but it's great for eliminating commercials when viewing browser-based Hulu, NBC, CBS, etc. via Firefox)
• uTorrent
• TED (Torrent Episode Downloader)
  

Why your Hauppauge remote isn't working: chances are the infrared cable's not plugged in all the way. The cable likely has an eight of an inch more to go before it will work.  You'll hear it "click" when it's actually in all the way; it may feel a little like you're forcing it (because you are), but this is the trick!

Netflix Continues to Fail (?)

This morning I opened my e-mail to find this note from CEO of Netflix, Reed Hastings:

Dear Jonas,
I messed up. I owe you an explanation.

It is clear from the feedback over the past two months that many members felt we lacked respect and humility in the way we announced the separation of DVD and streaming and the price changes. That was certainly not our intent, and I offer my sincere apology. Let me explain what we are doing.

For the past five years, my greatest fear at Netflix has been that we wouldn't make the leap from success in DVDs to success in streaming. Most companies that are great at something – like AOL dialup or Borders bookstores – do not become great at new things people want (streaming for us). So we moved quickly into streaming, but I should have personally given you a full explanation of why we are splitting the services and thereby increasing prices. It wouldn’t have changed the price increase, but it would have been the right thing to do.

So here is what we are doing and why.

Many members love our DVD service, as I do, because nearly every movie ever made is published on DVD. DVD is a great option for those who want the huge and comprehensive selection of movies.

I also love our streaming service because it is integrated into my TV, and I can watch anytime I want. The benefits of our streaming service are really quite different from the benefits of DVD by mail. We need to focus on rapid improvement as streaming technology and the market evolves, without maintaining compatibility with our DVD by mail service.

So we realized that streaming and DVD by mail are really becoming two different businesses, with very different cost structures, that need to be marketed differently, and we need to let each grow and operate independently.

It’s hard to write this after over 10 years of mailing DVDs with pride, but we think it is necessary: In a few weeks, we will rename our DVD by mail service to “Qwikster”. We chose the name Qwikster because it refers to quick delivery. We will keep the name “Netflix” for streaming.

Qwikster will be the same website and DVD service that everyone is used to. It is just a new name, and DVD members will go to qwikster.com to access their DVD queues and choose movies. One improvement we will make at launch is to add a video games upgrade option, similar to our upgrade option for Blu-ray, for those who want to rent Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360 games. Members have been asking for video games for many years, but now that DVD by mail has its own team, we are finally getting it done. Other improvements will follow. A negative of the renaming and separation is that the Qwikster.com and Netflix.com websites will not be integrated.

There are no pricing changes (we’re done with that!). If you subscribe to both services you will have two entries on your credit card statement, one for Qwikster and one for Netflix. The total will be the same as your current charges. We will let you know in a few weeks when the Qwikster.com website is up and ready.

For me the Netflix red envelope has always been a source of joy. The new envelope is still that lovely red, but now it will have a Qwikster logo. I know that logo will grow on me over time, but still, it is hard. I imagine it will be similar for many of you.

I want to acknowledge and thank you for sticking with us, and to apologize again to those members, both current and former, who felt we treated them thoughtlessly.

Both the Qwikster and Netflix teams will work hard to regain your trust. We know it will not be overnight. Actions speak louder than words. But words help people to understand actions.
Respectfully yours,

-Reed Hastings, Co-Founder and CEO, Netflix

p.s. I have a slightly longer explanation along with a video posted on our blog, where you can also post comments.

If you follow the link to the post on the Netflix blog, you’ll see a LOT of people explaining why two separate accounts (Netflix for streaming and now “Qwikster” for DVD’s) for what used to be one service is a horrible idea, and how they’ll be switching to Blockbuster for their mailed DVD needs.

Did Netflix not see this coming?  Why in the WORLD would they give their customers such a huge opportunity/reason to switch to a service that definitely has a benefit over their service (you can physically return/swap a DVD at a local store immediately, vs. having to wait for the US Post to do everything with the new “Qwikster”).

Also, I assume they had to go with the annoying spelling (Qwik with a “w”) so the Nestle bunny wouldn’t sue?

Netflix obviously had to do some restructuring because they weren’t going to survive on the price structure they had going, but this seems like some extremely poor planning.  Did they do any market research before going this route?

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

…

Like Rats from a Sinking Ship? (Netflix Changes Plans and Rates)

Netflix recently announced that they will be changing their subscription plans and rates.  The unlimited single DVD and streaming plan that once cost $9.99 a month (I was actually paying $8.99 when I first signed up), will sky rocket to $15.98.  The plans can be purchased separately for $7.99 each (so no discount for the combo).  New users signing up will see this change immediately, while existing users have until Sept. 1 to change their plans.

It’s going to be interesting to see how this affects the masses.

Obviously Netflix couldn’t sustain their business plan on the current rates under which they were operating (unless they planned on carrying only obscure documentaries and non-studio titles… which they were teetering on the edge of as it was).  I assume this pricing change will allow them to start carrying more popular and newer titles.  We’ll see if it improves their instant streaming catalog (I kind of doubt it).

Unfortunately, in the transition, the change promises to hurt independent film.  As a filmmaker who’s movie is about to be purchased for DVD rental by Netflix, this blows even more hardcore.

Netflix pays filmmakers a negotiated (but much more “standard”) price per disc purchased.  Netflix pays a negotiated price for a period of time for unlimited streaming.  Obviously they’re going to pay an unknown indie film much less than a film from an established studio with star power.  Thus, the DVD deal is much better for a filmmaker (even established filmmakers/studios).

If people bail en masse from Netflix’s “unlimited DVD” package (which initial user reactions indicate), we stand to lose a substantial amount of expected revenue from this source.

Not only that, but the timing of this announcement was AWFUL.  Netflix will increase their initial DVD order for an indie title based on a higher number of current users with the title in their queue (you can queue a DVD before it’s actually available –not so with streaming titles).  As soon as our agreement with Netflix was secured, we told our fans to place the title in their queue, and many, many people did.  The very next week Netflix announced their plans to change their pricing and plans.

I wonder how many existing “DVD” subscribers immediately bailed on Netflix, thus driving down the number Leading Ladies DVD’s queued.  I wonder how many more will bail before Sept. 1.

Our film is slated for release Sept. 13, 2011.  Just enough time for all our fans to cancel their DVD memberships with Netflix.  Hopefully our fans will wait till the last second to cancel DVD memberships (so the order still goes through –I’m betting Netflix already has this factored in for current orders, however).

Hopefully people will just actually buy the DVD and support independent film.  Here’s a link.

Viva la storytellers!

p.s.  I don’t know if it’s related, but the Netflix widgets for film titles (an image linked to a button that will add a title to your queue) has recently stopped functioning –it’s been down for days.  Hmmm.

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FINALLY - Flash, thus Hulu, Supports Multiple Screens with Full Screen Video

I haven’t tried it out yet, and I won’t be anytime soon as I’m running many, many video renders on this machine and it’s not really the best time to try to watch Hulu, but I was very happy to see this message when I powered on today:

The Importance of DSLR (“Idiot with a Tripod”)

“Idiot with a Tripod” by Jamie Stuart shows us the importance of DSLR video.  With so many people screaming about how “film” (video) shot with digital SLR’s is becoming the downfall of motion pictures, this simple 3 and a half minute montage shows us that 7D’s and the lot are giving us tools that make beauty more accessible… that DSLR’s are bringing us a revolution in the world of motion pictures.

“Idiot with a Tripod” by Jamie Stuart

 

Roger Ebert calls the clip “Oscar worthy,” stating:

This film deserves to win the Academy Award for best live-action short subject. (1) Because of its wonderful quality. (2) Because of its role as homage. It is directly inspired by Dziga Vertov's 1929 silent classic "Man With a Movie Camera." (3) Because it represents an almost unbelievable technical proficiency. It was filmed during the New York blizzard of Dec. 26, and Jamie Stuart e-mailed it to me with this time stamp: December 27, 2010 4:18:18 PM CST.

So many cinematography and film message boards and forums are filled with veterans whining about the fact that now "any schmuck can grab a camera and shoot a 'film.'" While I agree that the field will be littered with more garbage, the accessibility of motion picture equipment puts tools into the hands of people who previously were not able to share their skills and talent.

For a while I lamented the same thing in the music field: now any fool with a computer can record their awful ballads to their girlfriend, and we have to sift through all the schlock trying to find decent tunes.  However… it also means there is more good music out there (because it’s not only the elite with access to major recording studios who can put out quality recordings).  The same is becoming true with film.

Just because the tools are becoming accessible to everyone, doesn’t mean everybody has talent.  Ebert reflects this sentiment as he goes on: 

You can tell from the cinematography he knew exactly what he was doing and how to do it. He held the Vertov film in memory. Stuart must already been thinking of how he would do the edit and sound. Any professional will tell you the talent exhibited here is extraordinary.

In no way am I saying big-budget productions are dead.  I of course still want to see my Lord of the Rings and Broke Back Mountain shot on glorious film.  I NEED my giant sci-fi movies to have an $80 million-plus budget.  But DSLR is an important part of an equation that can keep cinema in the theater from going the way of the dodo.  There is a time and place for everything, and DSLR is definitely coming into its own.

While studios continue to spend ridiculous amounts of money on overblown situation comedies (Little Fockers, $100 million :: Sex and the City 2, $100 Million :: How Do You Know, $120 Million), tools like DSLR are making it possible for creative leaders and revolutionaries to create wonderful motion pictures at a fraction (and I mean super-fraction) of the cost of these hilariously budgeted films.

While Hollywood scrambles to make sense of the VOD and motion picture iPod revolution, thankfully there are talented individuals leading the way, making beautiful, enjoyable films without being shackled to the bloated and tired old ways of studios trying to adhere to the “rules” that died quite a while ago.

There is still a long way to go before the dust clears, but I am certain that the benefits that DSLR lend to “filmmaking” (cost, portability, size, etc.) are going to be a very important part of how films are made in the coming years.

…

Ebert quotes from:

http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/movies-1/man-in-a-blizzard-by-jamie-stu.html

Hulu Chaos

Evidently I’m Teresa Lynn.  No wait!  I’m Sam somebody.

Last night, my Hulu account kept bringing up other people’s avatars and names.  I’m wondering what the hell was going on.

Was someone else seeing my profile information?

Hmmm…

Getting Rid of the “beep” in Viera Cast

The other day I was at Costco and saw that they had the Panasonic DMP-BD655 on sale for $130 ($30 off).  I normally buy my electronics online, but that was a decent price, and it meant I could have it now.

I don’t know that I’ll be watching BluRays anytime soon, but having Netflix on a dedicated box so I don’t have to hook my laptop up to my TV every night?  AWESOME.

I debated on getting a more expensive model with wireless built in, but I want the speed of a dedicated CAT6 cable anyway, so saving the extra hundred bucks or so to forego the wireless was the right choice for me.

First of all, let me say that the difference in quality between the browser version of Netflix and the Viera Cast (Panasonic’s interface for the online content) version of Netflix are night and day.  I’m watching shows in full HD (the indicator bars almost always go all the way to the right and light up the “HD” like that carnival game where you use the giant hammer to smash the lever that rings the bell way up in the air), and the content looks amazing.  Not to mention I can scan forward and reverse, even if it’s a choppy excuse for the feature, which you can’t do at all in the browser version.  The online community seems to be up-in-arms about not being able to edit their Netflix queue content in Viera Cast, but I don’t mind so much that I can’t add and remove titles.  However, it’s a MAJOR pain in the butt that the only way you can view and select from your instant queue titles is one-by-one (in a horizontal line).  Why in the hell can’t they at least put the titles in a grid so you can view multiple titles at once?  That’s just STUPID.  I’ve got like 70 movies in my instant queue.  Scrolling to number 55 one-by-one is not a viable solution.  You’d think Panasonic could figure out something this obvious.

Which brings me to the “ding” that happens every time you move the cursor in Viera Cast.  I searched for hours trying to figure out how to disable it (both online and in the BluRay player’s settings) before giving up and just using “mute” when navigating the content.  However, last night I stumbled upon the solution!

The settings specifically for Viera Cast (not the BluRay player itself) are hidden on the last page of the Viera Cast content grid; why there isn’t simply a dedicated “settings” button on every page I cannot fathom.  However, in the center of the Viera Cast interface are arrows that allow you to navigate to “deeper” screens (a total of three screens).  On the third screen, all by its lonesome, is the Holy Grail.  You can turn off the navigation audio chime, and as an added bonus you can rearrange the order of the content panels (so you can move Pandora to the first screen, and Twitter to the last –who in the hell Twitters on their TV?).

Excellent.

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Surprises...

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Part of the fun of performing live music is all the surprises that come down the pike: what bands you get put on a bill with, where you play, what kind of crowd is at the venue, how the venue treats you, etc...

Last night we played a show at The High Dive in Champaign, IL. I thought it would be, as the name implies, kind of a dive. Wrong. It was actually one of the nicest places I've ever played. It was clean. It was well laid out (a large bar in-the-round that wraps around a two-story wall that divides the venue, stage and plenty of space on one side, lounge and booths on the other side, pool tables upstairs, large smoking deck out back). The lights were great and run really well (good balance between ambience and spots). And probably the best sound system I've ever heard in a place that size (probably around 500-600 capacity). There was great equipment, but the caliber of the audio was largely due to Jimmy, the sound guy. He really knew what he was doing. That was awesome. How many times do you tell the sound guy what you need in the monitor and he just says, "Sorry, can't do that." Not Jimmy. He pulls cords and makes it happen. And he actually spent time eq-ing the lows on Talia's cello to minimize feedback. Killer.

The other suprise was the "genres" of the other bands. Especially when you're new in town, you get put on bills that don't necessarily reflect the style of your music. Last night was one of those gigs. And I don't mean for that to come across as a bad thing. Sometimes it's really fun to get pushed out of your boundaries. You make new friends. You make new fans. It's part of the beauty of live music.

We opened the night to a pretty small crowd. That kind of comes with the territory of being the early evening opening act, but last night it was particularly bad as "unofficial" (a campus wide drinking holiday that the UIUC crowd really goes in for) did a number on our numbers. Anybody in the student crowd who would've been coming to see us play had likely started drinking at 9am, so were in no shape to walk, let alone get across town to the High Dive. But the sound was fantastic, we played a tight set, and those who were there really dug it (and Andy and Jodi finally made it out to a show!)... a great experience and one that I hope we can repeat on another night that doesn't conflict with the campus's largest drinking holiday.

After us was a band called The Fuz. They were definitely very, very "jammy." Their set lasted nearly an hour, and I think they played maybe five songs. But they were good at what they were doing, they were definitely having fun, and they brought out a good crowd that was obviously there to see them. It's been a while (the days of shooting photos for John Mullins Band) since I've been in that type of a patchouli/hemp fueled throng. ps The guitar player looks exactly like George Michael, Jason Bateman's character's son from Arrested Development.

The second band was the VilleBillies from Louisville, KY. I had heard a couple of their songs on MySpace, and I was thinking kind of "Kid Rock meets Limp Bizkit," but seeing them live caused me to rethink that. There were ten guys on stage. That in itself is a force to be reckoned with. They've got kind of a "southern rock with rap" thing going. To re-label the previous hybrid mentioned, I'd say they were more like a cross of Lynyrd Skynyrd and Eminem with a little Rage Against the Machine thrown in for good measure. And I actually mean that in a good way. They played music that had the "you must sing along" feel of classic southern rock, but the chest thumping crowd pumping drive of "new" rap. It really won the crowd over. I could see them totally ripping up a huge crowd at an outdoor festival. The bass player had a six string bass, and was definitely a driving factor in their music. They used a lot of loops and the drum machine, but the drummer kept it going throughout, and he was no slouch. Adam was probably my favorite. He played the acoustic guitar and the banjo, and definitely added the southern flavor to the stage presence. Not necessarily the kind of music I'd listen to at home, but damn they were fun in a club setting.

The last band was Eclectic Theory. You wouldn't believe me if I told you, so I'm just going to post a clip I video'd with my phone at the show (turn your audio way down; it's "concert volume" captured with a phone, so the audio is less than stellar).

Pics from The Canopy Club

Michael Davis just sent me a link to a couple of the photos he took at the CD release Feb. 11, at the Canopy Club. I love the fact that there's a band to look at. Thanks for snapping, Michael.

I haven't had a whole lot of time to record new music lately, as I'm trying to catch up on all the "money-making" that didn't happen while I was recording the album (http://www.waldenholdings.com/, http://www.acompleteseasonofsoccer.com/, etc...). The absence of writing music is killing me, but we've got a show March 2, at the High Dive, so that should help abate my woes.

Driving to Elmhurst Saturday morning, we took Lake Shore Drive and had Sufjan Stevens', Illinoise going on the iPod. The snow was tinkling down on an angry Lake Michigan. The waves, the grey, the city... it was gorgeous. How great that there's actually a soundtrack for that vision now. Thanks, Sufjan.

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