Tumbleweeds

On a Mac, install ffmpeg using brew. Specifically, you want to install it with libass, free type and fontconfig parameters. The install command is:

brew install ffmpeg --with-libass --with-freetype --withfontconfig

Assuming you are in the directory with your video source, the ffmpeg command you want is:

ffmpeg -i [INPUTFILE,MP4] -vf "drawtext=fontfile=/Library/Fonts/Verdana.ttf: timecode='00\:00\:00\:00': r=24.000: x=(w-tw)/2: y=(h-th)-50: fontcolor=white: fontsize=48: box=1: boxcolor=0x00000099" [OUTPUTFILE.MP4]

In this case, the source for the font is a system font (probably installed by MS Office). the r=24.00 creates a timecode for 24fps, which is the source frame rate of the video.

Just set this up by switching out my third generation Apple TV. I’m reminded of the first generation iPad. It was just a big iPhone until apps came along that really took advantage of its size. The new Apple TV feels as though its promise is yet to be fulfilled due to the lack of good apps.

The setup experiences uses the remote but lets you use your iPhone via Bluetooth to tell the Apple TV about your wireless network configuration. It also pops up your AppStore login and password fields for easier entry. Unfortunately the experience goes downhill from there. You need to type in your password; you can’t just use TouchID on your phone. Once setup, I immediately tried to use the Apple Remote app on my iPhone to control the Apple TV but it does not appear to be compatible. That’s a bummer because there was a lot of keyboard entry required when setting up apps. I went into the AppStore and downloaded HBO Now because it was first. You authenticate either by restoring your iTunes purchase or by typing in your credentials. I had to type mine in and unfortunately the neat Bluetooth iPhone trick doesn’t work (presumably only Apple gets to use that for now), so it was back to the painful onscreen keyboard. Same experience with Netflix. As I downloaded other apps, I suddenly was prompted for my Apple ID password even though it had been entered during the setup process. Again, no ability to use a nearby device for TouchID and the remote doesn’t have this capability either, which seems to be a miss.

Other TV apps require TV Everywhere authentication, which actually wasn’t too bad. However, they all require it and after the forth app requiring me to do so, it got old. It would be nice if there were a central TV credentials repository on the device that the apps could use. The TVE process was roughly the same for each app but some had inexplicable differences even though they seem to hit the same authentication website. Fortunately the process relies on a web browser running on a mobile device or computer and my Comcast user name and password were stored in the web browser so I only had to enter them once. This process remains a massive source of friction in the onboarding process, and inexplicably so given that it is obvious that my device is sitting at a Comcast network address. One of the apps (USA Network I think) wasn’t actually ready at the backend and errored out during authentication and then proceeded to show me unplayable Spanish language versions of content. The TV apps all looked pretty similar with pretty vanilla navigation. The Disney and Disney XD apps were exceptions and look as though they are being more kid friendly by starting with a live stream (although the Disney XD one was not working). I tried some of the network apps and with the exception of USA, they all seemed to work. Everything had a pre-roll but it looked seamless with a countdown or ad number indicator, good quality video and no switching to other screens during transitions.

I tried two games: the cult hit Crossy Road and Asphalt8. Crossy Road worked well though I was unable to try the multiplayer mode. Asphalt8, an arcade car racing game, showed up the limitations of the device. Upon initial launch it spent 3 minutes downloading content (using up the 32GB local storage of the device). Then when I started playing, it was nowhere near as smooth as on my iPhone 6 and compared poorly with an Xbox 360 let alone a more modern console. These are definitely first generation apps, and I imagine that there will plenty of improvements. Using the remote horizontally to control the car was strange especially because you have to use the hard buttons for braking, nitrous, etc and of course they are not marked. Whilst on the subject of the remote, it seems to have no indicator as to whether it is charging or needs to be charged. It shipped with enough charge to set up the Apple TV and I plugged it in for a while but I have no idea how long it takes to fully charge. Battery life will no doubt vary greatly depending on how much it is used for gaming. Thankfully, my Logitech Harmony remote continues to work with the Apple TV for basic operation.

The Ematic EWT816 is a $99 8″ tablet that ships with Windows 8.1. I bought one and tried to upgrade it out of the box to Windows 10. It was not as straightforward as one might hope.

Problem 1: Non-activated Windows 8.1

Strangely, the machine is not activated and in fact the System Information screen claims that the product key had exceeded the number of times that it could be used. Makes me wonder what is going on with Ematic’s Volume License. I tried to type in a Windows 8.1 Professional product key, but unfortunately it did not work until I did an in-place upgrade to Windows 8.1 Professional. This took a long time, but then Windows was activated.

Problem 2: Disk space

I wondered how the late 2013 MacBook Pros and the mid-2013 MacBook Airs do with video workflows, so I went to the Apple Store to find out armed with a USB flash drive containing sample files and ffmpeg.

The sample file is a 44 second 24fps 1080p ProRes 4444 file from a RED Epic and is 1.2GB in size. I wanted to compare CPU performance, so I used a pre-compiled binary of ffmpeg 2.1 (from http://ffmpegmac.net because I couldn't be bothered to build it myself) and GPU performance using FCP X. In each case, I copied over the video file to the desktop and ran the following ffmpeg command line to create a ProRes 422 version:

Like most American homes, we have "bathroom vanity lights" in our bathrooms. In our case, two fixtures containing two bulbs. Three of them burned out so I thought I'd replace them with LEDs, which is when I discovered that they are 100W halogen lamps. Turn on the bathroom lights and that's 400W right there! Since we leave this light on at night for the kids, that adds up to almost $150/year in electricity, not to mention that these bulbs cost $8 each.

I was an early adopter of Sonos. I fell in love with the system when I saw it at MacWorld in 2004 and purchased a two-room kit in 2005.

Sonos brought iPod-like ease of use and Apple-like singled minded focus to in-home multi-room digital music playback. It was plug and play, wireless, didn't require wiring of in-wall speakers or volume controls. It disrupted the market, just like the iPod The original Sonos controller had an iPod-like click wheel just like an iPod. When others entered the market and introduced - mostly buggy - video streaming, Sonos defiantly stuck with audio only streaming, just an iPod.

When we moved to a townhouse in 2006, my multi-room music needs evaporated since the only place to listen to music was through the big speakers attached to the amplifier by the TV. So I sold my Sonos and I'm sure it went to a good home.

After our move to a larger home 6 years later, I wanted to have multi-room music playback again. The kids are old enough to benefit and old enough to allow mummy and daddy to enjoy listening to the radio or music uninterrupted (well I can hope...) Six years is an eternity in the technology industry. HD-DVD, Blu-ray, SACD all came and pretty much went (how many Blu-ray disks does anyone actually buy?) Netflix now lives up to the "Net" in its name, with twice as many streaming customers as DVD subscribers. Every consumer electronics device seems to be Internet connected and streams content. Apple's AirPlay came on the scene and should have made Sonos redundant. Except it didn't. After 9 years, Sonos is still the best multi-zone audio streaming system out there.

The Contenders

1. Smart TVs, Blu-ray players, game consoles, streaming boxes, etc.

The only thing smart about Smart TVs is their marketing. Generally, they offer buggy apps and TV speakers. Yeah you can add better speakers and use clever things like HDMI ARC (Audio Return Channel), but a quick look at avsforum.com shows what a compatibility nightmare this is. Blu-ray players seem to have horribly slow UIs and the apps suffer from the same buggyness as the TVs. The exception is probably the players from Oppo but they start at $500. Game consoles and streaming boxes are a reasonable option but like to other two options, you're coupled to your TV.

2. Bluetooth Speakers

Yup they're wireless and are a great portable solution - I personally have and love a Philips Fidelio speaker dock for the iPod, iPhone and iPad. But it isn't exactly a good multi-room solution and doesn't provide room-filling sound.

3. Standalone AirPlay Speakers

AirPlay is a great idea and it works quite well. Using AirPlay, you can transmit whatever you're doing on your iPhone, iPod, iPad or Mac to your Apple TV and see it on the screen and hear it through whatever is connected to your Apple TV. It is multi-room (or at least multi-AirPlay device).

AirPlay vs. Sonos

Honestly, I figured I'd go AirPlay. I looked at the delicious Bowers and Wilkins A5 and A7 speakers. Beautiful industrial design, suitably solid and British to boot (but made in China). You get the A5 for a small space and the A7 for a larger one. I could just see them in my home. But because I research everything to death, I figured I'd take a look at Sonos' latest.

The Sonos Play:3 is a single speaker enclosure with built-in amplification, wireless connectivity and power supply. The Sonos Play:5 is the same thing but bigger. Yes it has more speakers and clever stuff inside but the bottom line is that you get the Play:3 for a small space like a kitchen and the Play:5 for a larger space like a living room.

Sonos was never inexpensive, but that was OK because it was pretty unique. The Play:3 is $300 and the Play:5 is $400. But the Bowers and Wilkins A5 is $500 and the A7 is $800! The Sonos does need a Sonos wireless bridge to make it work (it connects to your wired home network and creates the wireless mesh network that the Sonos devices use), but this is only $50. Both need a controller. Since AirPlay is an Apple technology, the controller would need to be a Mac, iPod touch, iPhone or iPad. Sonos adds PCs and Android devices to that list.

In operation, the two are subtly but radically different. First, AirPlay streams from your device. So let's say you want to listen to Spotify. With AirPlay, you run the Spotify app on your device and you then use AirPlay to stream it to your speaker. You're streaming twice, and twice over WiFi. That might not be important for one speaker but what if everyone in your home is using the same network? In that situation you can get stutters and you can get laggy controls. I hate stutters and laggy controls. Second, if you're doing all this through your iPhone and it rings, the music stops (and that just upsets Rihanna). Third, what if you to shoot some video of your kids rocking out? Yeah not so much because when you fire up the camera app, the audio stops streaming. Multi-room? It works but you're likely to compound the first issue above.

The Sonos approach is different. First, it creates its own network so it should not be susceptible to WiFi traffic and congestion (although ultimately all these wireless devices share the same sets of frequencies). Second, the Sonos players themselves stream from the music service (like Spotify); you just use your iOS or Android device to control the player. Third, if you want to use your iOS or Android device for something else, you can - the Sonos units keep doing what they were doing. Fourth, you can have multiple controllers: we have two iPads, two iPhones, and three Macs. They can all control the Sonos players in exactly the same way and share data about what is currently playing, the playlist, etc. Fifth, Sonos has done a phenomenal job of integrating various services. All the usual ones like Pandora and Spotify are there but so is a well integrated Internet radio service so that you can easily access favorite stations or shows. This is a huge usability win. Sixth, you can connect Sonos players together so you can cobble together a wireless stereo system with a subwoofer using two Play:3s and the Sonos Sub (it ain't cheap at $300 per Play:3 and $700 for the sub and I'd probably just do a Connect:Amp and some bookshelf speakers).

What about sound quality? Well I never did an A/B comparison between the B&Ws and the Sonos Plays. Heresy? Not really - look these beasties are for nice background music or radio listening. If I want audiophile listening room stereo imaging, I'll go to my wired system. But what I do want is clear, crisp, undistorted sound that doesn't break down when it gets loud. The Sonos fits the bill here and even if the B&Ws were to sound better, I don't think that outweighs the sheer usability of Sonos.

Dear companies who distribute software online,

Please stop using Digital River. They suck. They sucked when they sold my product (Expression) at Microsoft. They suck when I try to buy VMware Fusion using PayPal. They suck when I try to buy it using a credit card.

When I buy electronically distributed software online, I expect to receive the serial number as soon as the purchase has completed. In Digital River's world, I placed the order 10 minutes ago on the VMware site. All I have is an email from PayPal saying that I've been charged. Nothing from Digital River. No order confirmation and certainly no serial number. So now I'm SOL because my VMware Fusion trial has expired. ARRRGHHH!!!!

Go away Digital River. You are an anachronism. You were always useless. You still are useless and you just need to die.

At the back are all standard incandescent 65W floods. At the front from left to right: Ecosmart daylight LED (3200K or so), Commercial Electric disk light (warm white 2700K), Ecosmart warm white LED (2700K 625 lumens).

I like the Ecosmart design the best because they seem to be more diffuse and the Commercial Electric disk light protrudes from the ceiling, so is quite distracting.

I've completed the process of retrofitting LED lights into the existing recessed ceiling lights of my home. Why LEDs? Two things: energy savings and longevity. CFLs have been the go to for low energy and longevity but they're horrible. They take ages to start and reach full brightness, their light quality leaves something to be desired and their lifespan hasn't been great in my experience. The ceiling fixtures had 65W incandescent bulbs. In the kitchen alone, there are six fixtures so a total of 390W. Assuming they're on 8 hours a day for a year, that's 2,290 hours a year, which means 893kWh. At my local providers current rates, that would cost me $34.26 a year. Philips make a DuraMax BR30 indoor flood with a claimed life of 2,500 hours, so you're looking at a approximately a bulb a year at $4 a piece. In my experience, they blow a lot sooner, but let's go with it and we get $16 in bulbs so a total cost of $50.25 a year.

LEDs are expensive. They're not as expensive as they used to be but they aren't as cheap as CFLs let alone incandescents. However, they are energy misers, have an extremely long life and give off a pleasing light. The ones I used are made by Ecosmart and fit into the recessed ceiling cans. They have a GU24 screw-in base and are equivalent to a 65W bulb but only consume 9.5W. They have a life of 35,000 hours (14x the DuraMax). Based on the same usage, they would consume 131kWh a year at a cost of $11.46 a year. The downside is these lamps are expensive at $24.97 each plus tax. But they should last 15 years, so that's $1.63/year per lamp. So my total estimated cost for a year to light my kitchen with LEDs is $34.75 compared to $50.25 for incandescents, a savings of $15.50. Over their lifespan, I will save $232.50.