The average hifi enthusiast will shop at the local Best Buy or Magnolia HiFi and pick out the names that are well known (Sony, Pioneer, Denon, Bose, Onkyo, etc).  The true enthusiast will search the far and wide for the lesser known audio “gems” - bang for the buck, incredible sound, a proven history, and of course, a product that can talk the talk *and* walk the walk.  Most have heard about Bose, Polk, or even Bang & Olufsen, but how many friends do you know who can tell you about Antique Sound Labs, Classe, NAIM, NAD, Prima Luna, Grado Labs, Magnepan, or Stax?  There’s reason for it - it takes a lot of time and research to find these little gems.  Not many stores carry them locally, either.

The other thing, is that people love to jump on the bandwagon of new technology.  Dolby, DTS 5.1, optical TOSLink, Surround 7.2, etc.  But when it really comes to music and only music - the live performances have sound coming from the front of you.  You only need two really good speakers and an amplifier in front.  Let the room’s acoustics take care of the sound’s reflections and surround - it’s more realistic that way for music, anyway.  Dollar for dollar, no surround/dts/dolby system will come close to the realism and quality that a good 2 channel system will produce.

So, it only makes sense at this point to talk about solid state transistors and vacuum tubes.  Solid state transistor amplifiers are what you’ll find on the shelves today.  Vacuum tubes, are another story.  Most associate vacuum tubes with old, ENIAC-era computers that took up entire rooms.  When it comes to audio though, solid state transistors were made to be cheap, and small - vacuum tubes still hold the title for accuracy and quality of sound.  In fact, vacuum tubes are still used in military applications today for its reliability and accuracy (think nuclear warheads).

One reason is the push/pull design, and another reason would be that it gives off even ordered harmonics, vs. the odd ordered harmonics that solid state amplifiers give off.  The technicalities behind the inner workings of vacuum tubes are beyond the scope of this blog post, but I guess I can say it is a lot like vinyl records vs. CD.  The CD is technologically newer, more compact, and on paper, more accurate and precise.  Ask any audio enthusiast though, and he’ll tell you that the vinyl recording is smoother, warmer, and more enjoyable to listen to (I tend to agree).  Part of this is that the CD is digital, and a smooth and analogue signal is broken down and sampled into digital bits.  But again, this is beyond the scope of this post.

Let’s get to what matters - how does it sound?  How different is it from a solid state amplifier?  Basically - this Jolida 707 tube amp is worlds apart from my old Arcam Delta 290 solid state amplifier (which was no slouch, either).  It *really* woke up the Magnepan magneplanar speakers I have.  I’ve never heard voices “vibrato” back and forth so clearly.  The tube amp sounds like it literally picks up the voice, and dangles it in front of your face, while it fills the rest of the room with the music.  The vocals are buttery smooth, and warm, without being muffled.  Things twinkle and sparkle.  Bass is tight, punchy, and you feel it more than hear it.  You can stare at the speakers, and never get any indication that there is any sound coming from them - the music seems to be floating in front of you all around.  You can listen for hours, as the sound is so smooth it does not tire you out or give you a headache (partly due to the even ordered harmonics).  I can go on for ages, but if you live locally - do come on by and give them a listen.

Next time you’re shopping for audiogear, I highly recommend doing some research.  And if you’re going for quality (and cool glowing tube looks), definitely take a look at the tube technology of yore.  You’ll be amazed.

Reasons to shave with a straight razor:

1)  With an electric razor, I rubbed my skin with a hot and dirty/oily metal screen, only to have stubble (and pimples) again the next morning.  Straight razor?  I can skip a day, and my skin is clean, and not irritated at all.
2)  This one blade will last longer than you if you strop and maintain it correctly.  When I used disposables, I was buying $10 cartridges every month, and oftentimes they didn’t have the heads I needed, so I had to buy a whole new handle and blade set for $20.  Fucking thing sucks!
3)  On average, it takes about 4-6 months to get good with the blade.  It’s an acquired skill.  Once you have it, you’ll know.  It’s awesome.
4)  Forget the cheap $5 cans of shaving gels and foams that last you a month.  Buy a $5 bar of Col. Conk’s shaving soap, and you’re good for 2 years.
5)  Strops make great child/wife/puppy-beating whips.  ;)
6)  Your face feels *so* clean after a good shave.  Ever sit down at an old school barber shop and get a $20 straight razor shave?  It’s a luxury.  You can have this every day if you invest a little time and money.

Try it out.  You won’t go back.
 

I felt ok about moving, since I had a cushy Facebook offer waiting and they copied all of Google’s perks to steal their engineers away.  Boy, was I wrong.  Outside of working for the California Democratic Party, it was the worst job I had ever had.  But that’s a story for another time.

I moved over to SugarCRM, and they had the very laid back work environment which I loved.  They were flexible, and I often worked from home so I could spend the entire day slow smoking my pork ribs over a 6 hour period.  My coworkers were *awesome*, and I had a blast with them every day.  The only caveat was, that well, CRM is not exactly an exciting industry.  It was like somebody bludgeoned the passion out of the company with a boring stick.  But, I was still happy there (thanks to my coworkers), until they stuck us in a 9-10 hour/day, week long seminar where they had us working on code they would eventually integrate into the product.  They told us it was just an exercise, though.  Right, like we’d fall for that.  Still, it wasn’t a dealbreaker - until a message on LinkedIn popped up with the seemingly innocent title of “Hello from Meebo!”.

I immediately tuned out the Sugar CEO’s boring speech and hopped onto the meebo.com webpage.  You see, I had been getting recruiters reaching out to me from Yahoo, Netflix, Vudu, Sony, and Sequoia Capital at the time.  I turned them all away, because hey, I liked Sugar.

But, Meebo struck me as different.  They were fun.  The product was awesome (I was a fan of it since ~05).  I immediately poked around their “about us” page, and it just proved what I had guessed - they were a fun company with lots of passion, powered by the brains of intelligent and fun people.  15 minutes after the LinkedIn message, I was on the phone with a Meebo recruiter setting up a phone screen and talking about what they were looking for.

A phone screen and interview later, I was extended an offer from Meebo.  I jumped on it.  It was an offer of a lifetime.  Don’t tell them, but I would have even taken a paycut to work at a cool place like Meebo.

So, what makes Meebo so awesome?

1)  They pay for all my coffee, and lunch.

2)  The people are fantastic.  Fun, relaxed, and very smart with nothing to prove.

3)  They value culture fit - a lot.  One complaint I had for Sugar was that they never promoted up (bottom-up).  They just hired random people that looked good on paper to take up management positions - no quicker way to destroy company culture.

4)  An awesome bar is right below Meebo.  You don’t even have to leave the building or go outside (no sunlight for us, please!) - walk down a set of stairs, open a door, and voila!  You’re at the bar.  $2 beers during happy hour, too.

5)  See the picture above?  I came home today after a Fry’s run to find a mysterious package in front of my door.  Suspicious - since I wasn’t expecting anything.  Kat and I made sure it wasn’t ticking or leaking white powder from the seams, and opened it up.  It was a present from Meebo - a congratulations card, with fresh brownies two-day aired in from a shop in Boston.  I was floored.

While Facebook and Sugar didn’t really come close to the peak of Google work life (2004-mid 2005), I can finally say I’ve found a place that exceeds all my expectations.

I heart Meebo!

I’m a big fan of music, and though I’m not quite good enough to tell you whether the equipment has a <60hz rolloff or an attenuated, sibilant upper high section, the ears know.  Just like they say “the nose knows”, music that is more accurately reproduced sounds more live, and more enjoyable - whether you consciously realize it or not.

This is how I became a fan of electrostatic technology.  The setup pictured above (a Stax SR-001 MK2) shows a portable electrostatic headphone set.  ”What’s an electrostatic?”, is a question I get asked a lot.  Let me attempt to explain it here.

A speaker makes noise by vibrating air, several thousand times a second.  When you watch a big speaker vibrating, that round part that pops in and out of the box is the diaphragm that pushes air and makes the air “vibrate” against your eardrums.  It’s great for cheap, dynamic sound, but the con is that the diaphragm is large, heavy, and flexible.  It can’t vibrate back and forth very fast, so the sounds coming from it comes off a bit sloppy and fudged.  The diaphragm is also moved by a coil that attracts or repulses a magnet - and a magnetic signal is nowhere near as fast and responsive as you’d want for accurate sound.

The electrostatic speaker solves this problem by using a very thin, electrically conductive film.  Less than 1mm it front of it is a positively charged metal screen, and 1mm behind it, a negatively charged metal screen.  The voltage differential between the screens in this rig pictured above, is 580 volts.  A current (positive or negative) is passed through the film in the center, and depending on the current, the film is pushed or pulled towards either metal screen.  Since the film is lighter, and responding to a much faster electrical current, the sound you get is much more instantaneous, direct, crisp and accurate.

That’s the gist of it, anyway.  For a better explanation, there is a great article you can read here on wikipedia.  If you ever see me with a set, give them a try - I’m always glad to demo new technology to friends.  I’ll talk about push/pull tube amplifiers next.

- 405 horsepower, and 18/28mpg EPA.  I saw 32mpg driving to Berkeley once.  I also raced it all day on a road course at Thunderhill, then drove home in comfort getting 31mpg the whole way down.
- LEV (Low Emission Vehicle) rating.
- GM’s LS engines are virtually indestructible - low maintenance (just change the oil, first tuneup at 100,000 miles), is rated for 300,000 miles, and sees about 600,000 miles in tests before catastrophic failure.
- The SOUND!  It will haunt you for the rest of your life.
- The engineering.  The bay to bay breathing windows, sodium filled valves, titanium internals, *amazing* cylinder heads, and get this:  In the event of coolant loss, the engine will still run, using 4 cylinders at a time.  While one bank fires, the other acts as an air pump to cool the block and head.  The banks alternate between firing/cooling duties.
- *IF* something breaks, you can work on it yourself with a hammer, or take it to any GM dealership.  No $3000 Ferrari oil changes for me, thx.
- 405 horsepower not enough?  Not a problem - people have gotten 600, 700, 800 horsepower without even cracking the engine open.  There truly is no replacement for displacement. 

Motown Muscle, you’ve won a place in my heart.  If I were the type to get a tattoo, I’d get one of a chevy bowtie.  I may sell the vette soon, but no motor will ever replace the power, sound, feel, and heritage of the Detroit Era.  I salute you, General!
 

Many argue that “it’s just a phone.”

“It’s more than just a phone,” I always say.  It is just a piece of the puzzle - a key player in the bigger vision of technology we techies envision.  I’m no fanboy (well, maybe I am, though I think my pleothra of non-apple gadgets disqualifies me), but I know enough of the industry to get the “big picture” when I see one.

My prediction is that Apple is positioning itself to base the mobile computing paradigm upon this iPhone.  It will be the gatekeeper between your mobile and desktop computer, and the cloud.  Your digital wallet, so to speak.  Picture this scenario.

You whip out your “iTablet” laptop (yes, it’s coming - according to an apple insider who’s given me credible tips of the iPhone 3G and macbook air).  It doesn’t need wifi, wimax, 3G, whatever.  Why build in a 3G chip when it can just talk to your iPhone to get access to the internet? Your iPhone will also carry your files for the iTablet to use - your music, documents, photos, bookmarks, passwords, ewallet, etc.  It can even act as a rumored Apple “glass trackpad“, but with graphics on the surface.  Don’t want to use your iTablet laptop?  Hop on into an internet cafe, where there are iMac “shells” - just a monitor, keyboard, and mouse.  Slide your iPhone into the shell, and you have a full desktop environment with YOUR files, programs, and preferences, using YOUR internet connection off the iPhone, saving all the work you do to your very own pocket device.  Go home, and back it up by putting your iPhone on top of your wireless Time Capsule.  Oh, wait, 3G is deprecated you say?  Are the US cell networks now running a faster, more available 4G wireless network?  No problem - upgrade your iPhone, and all your computers now have 4G networking.  iTablet screen too small?  Upgrade to a larger model - no need to reinstall and import your files since your iPhone already acts like an external hard drive.

This idea is not a terribly new one (think opposite of convergence), but I feel that Apple is the one company in a strong enough position with enough key markets and distribution channels under its control.  Steve Jobs has always said that Apple computers should be the central, “digital hub” of your digital lifestyle.  And he means it.  He’s got the key components in place - the iPhoto, iTunes, iWork, iPhone (which also doubles as an iPod), iMac, MacBooks, mobileMe, and iSync.  

Tie it all together with the iPhone / OSX, and you’ve untied the user from the device.

The future is coming, and it looks pretty bright.  

That’s what I thought too, until he jumped up and sat on my hand at 5am. I noticed it felt wet, so I pulled my hand out from under him - and he remained sitting on my bed pillow. I notice my hand literally smells like shit. I go to the bathroom and find a nice brown streak on my hand. Disgusting. On the pillow, I notice an even longer brown/green streak, and it SMELLS like the devil’s own.  Funny thing is - this isn’t the first time this cat has smeared shit across something.

The next time somebody tells me cats are cleaner than dogs, I will heartily laugh right in their face and tell them to scram. My dog, in the 16 years she lived, NEVER trailed poop anywhere outside the immediate droppage area she had chosen.

Plus, everyone knows cat shit has schizophrenia worms (toxoplasma gondii) in it. Ever wonder why this phenomenon exists?  Well, now you know.

The car was so comfortable, so stiff and rattle free, and felt like one solid slab of metal riding over bumps and road irregularities.  But once the foot went down, 50mph would come in an instant, her pull getting stronger and stronger as you got pressed hard into the seat.  Time to shift.  Bam - the Z06 tail wags, kicks, and the car goes sideways when 2nd gear engages.  68mph.. 77mph… 92mph..  the numbers would jump faster and faster on the HUD.  In a moment’s time, the car is gone - the only evidence of its sprint being a squiggly sine wave, signed on the asphalt.

It’s too much.  Just too much.  What sensory overload!

America, I salute you.  What a car, what an icon, and how rightfully so.

- No “AT&T” carrier logo screaming at you every time.
- NES games!  
- A bash shell, with ssh and nmap.  A must for unix junkies like me.
- Tethering (having your laptop use the phone’s internet connection).  Ssshh, don’t tell AT&T.
- Change the graphics to something you find more aesthetically pleasing.
- App Store, *and* Cydia (an apt-get client).  Best of both worlds!
- SSH access into your iphone.
- Python/Ruby/Lighttpd, etc, running right on your iPhone.

Basically, you get all the benefits of the new 2.0 firmware, and still get a portable BSD box with a battery, wifi, 3g, and gps in your pocket.  Highly recommended.

Fast forward to July 11th, 2008. The iPhone app made a huge splash in the news - mostly due to its App Store. Any developer can sell their apps on it, given the app was approved by Apple. A distribution channel, ready to go! This inspired me to spend this last week learning Objective-C, and Cocoa Touch. I was able to make this game show in this photo (kick the ball as many times as you can before it hits the floor), but I also learned the concepts of Objective-C, Cocoa, and GUI programming. Sweet! I can now easily port and code apps for Mac OSX as well.

Long term, I am hoping to get good enough to be able to program independently, and earn a sustainable income via the products. With certain applications earning more than 3,000 downloads per day, I am hoping I can start with a few (3-5) apps on the app store at 99 cents each. Even if each app gets only 20 downloads a day, that’s $3000/month of income (as long as Uncle Sam doesn’t get his criminal hands on the money).

Here’s to a possible future in front of my computer! Be sure to watch for this app coming to the App Store in a few more weeks.