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Tuesday, 26 July 2011

Brain Crack!

Posted on 01:06 by Unknown
This will be my first fiction writing post. For those who don't know, I write fiction. Look over that way at the links for a couple of samples out in the wild --------->

Thanks to Jenny Jo Reinhart (through the one and only Brad Parks) for sharing this on G+. It leads to the most important thing to remember if you want to be a writer, the single piece of advice every writer, teacher, or writing coach gives: write. This should be obvious, but it's the act of writing that makes one a writer. Otherwise, you might be a hip frood with a headfull of awesome, but unless you let that awesome out somehow nobody else will ever see it.

The biggest thing that helps me is socializing my writing life. It's easy to fall into the stereotype of the isolated, solitary writer. Think Thoreau alone in his cabin. Virginia Wolfe in her own room, with lock and key. Hemingway drinking alone because he's threatened to punch out everyone else. Go get the drift. Writing can be solitary. Especially if you have a full-time job and a family and can only write at 4AM when everyone else is in bed (it's 4AM now). So what to do?

One choice is a critiquing group. Not is avoiding the shame of having to face the same people every few weeks without a new work to show a tremendous motivator, but everyone can benefit from an objective eye telling them whether or not they're as awesome as they think. I've had a room full of people not "get" a story in which I really believed, or tell me what was wonderful about something I wasn't sure about. More about those experiences in a later post.

Another experiment I've been tinkering with are "writer hangouts". You can meet other creative types in a coffee shop, a bar, on a rooftop, or through the magic of the internet, chat for a few minutes, then get to work. I tried it the other night on G+ (hosted by the one and only Mary Robinette Kowal) and, while at first other faces flitting too and fro on my screen were a touch distracting, the "ticaticataptaptap" of fingers on keyboards is a great motivator to keep my fingers dancing across they keyboard.

Now, that being said, back to work. After all, none of the stories here in my head are going to write themselves.
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Wednesday, 20 July 2011

SONOS INTRODUCES THE PLAY:3

Posted on 11:33 by Unknown

SONOS INTRODUCES THE PLAY:3

Sonos has just introduced the SONOS PLAY:3, the compact, all-in-one Sonos player with wall-to-wall HiFi sound. Users can start with one PLAY:3 in any room and expand wirelessly over time. In the process, bringing a world of music to every room of the home. The PLAY:3 and all your music can be controlled from anywhere via the free Sonos Controller Apps for Mac, PC, Android, iPhone and iPad. The PLAY:3 is ideal for any room where you want music and versatile enough to work both vertically and horizontally. The PLAY:3 is available globally beginning today for $299.


“PLAY:3 gives music fans an incredibly easy way to listen to all the music on earth,” said John MacFarlane, CEO, Sonos, Inc. “PLAY:3’s innovative design sets a new bar for Hi Fidelity audio in a compact package and makes it simple to amplify the music experience in any room of the home.” PLAY:3 is connected to the Internet, giving you access to your entire digital music library and unlimited supply of Internet music including: AUPEO, iheartradio, Last.fm, MOG, Napster®, Pandora®, Rdio®, Rhapsody®, SiriusXM Internet Radio, Spotify, Stitcher SmartRadio™, TuneIn, Wolfgang’s Vault, and more.                                                     Other features of PLAY:3 include:

  • Sonos HiFi sound: 3 integrated speakers and 3 dedicated digital amplifiers provide crystal-clear, wall-to-wall sound.
  • Innovative, smart-directional design: Internal sensor detects if the speaker is positioned vertically or horizontally and modifies the speaker’s output to ensure clean, balanced, room-filing sound in any position.
  • Multi-room: Put several PLAY:3s around your home and enjoy perfectly synchronized all-over-your-home music.
  • Stereo pairing: Add two PLAY:3s to the same room and enjoy even bigger sound with each playing a dedicated Left or Right channel.
The PLAY:3 features three Class-D digital amplifiers and three drivers - one tweeter and two 3” mid-range. One passive, rear-firing bass radiator for rich sound. The cabinet features volume and mute control. PLAY:3 dimensions are 5.2 x 10.5 x 6.3 in. (132 x 268 x 160 mm)/ 5.7 lb (2.6 kg).

In other news today, Sonos makes it even easier and more affordable to get started with Sonos. Sonos has lowered the suggested retail price of the BRIDGE to $49. BRIDGE connects directly to your router and initiates SonosNet, the world’s most robust wireless music network. This gives you the freedom to place the PLAY:3, or any other Sonos players, anywhere in your home.

Additionally, today’s launch features an update to Sonos Software. Along with support for PLAY:3, Sonos Software v3.5 adds several improvements to the Sonos Controller for Android, including the option to install the app to SD cards and localization in Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, and Swedish. FOR MORE INFORMATION:
For more information about Sonos or to locate an authorized Sonos dealer in your area, please visit www.sonos.com or call 877.80.SONOS.
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Sunday, 17 July 2011

My my, what a big screen you have!

Posted on 02:10 by Unknown
We've all seen them. Conference rooms the size of a walk-in closet in which the client wants (and the salesperson sold) a display the approximate size of Rhode Island. As a pointless just-for-the-heck-of-it mental exercise you calculate the optimum viewing distance and, as experience and common sense tell you, it's someplace in the next room. You put it in anyway, and the client is not only delighted, but seems underwhelmed by the reasonably-sized display in the net room over. You go on to the next job, your faith in clients to make good decisions at an all time low. Until the next time.

So what really is happening here? Is everyone being seduced by the "wow" of an oversized display? If you take the time to ask (and can do so diplomatically) the answer is often an attempt to duplicate the home-theater experience.

Commercial applications are all about transmitting information. Displays need to be readable with enough detail for given tasks. If you can read the text on the powerpoint presentation and see the facial features on the far-end videoconference participants you're doing fine.

Home theater, on the other hand, is about an experience. To see the image isn't enough, you need to be immersed in it, almost overwhelmed by it. SMPTE and THX each have guidelines which specify a display that essentially fills ones field of vision. If a commercial installation is to be used for conferencing or document review, there's little need for this. If it will sometimes play media then many clients want at least as engaging an experience as they get at home. And that means BIG.

So the moral of the story? One size, in this case literally, does not fit all. When you see something strange and outside of normal best practices, ask. Knowing that a more theater-like experience could create an opportunity to upsell, adding upgraded speakers, for example, or a surround sound processor. If it's a more vague, "We just want everything to be big" or that there's a similar size room with a huge display in a different facility and they want them to match -- well, you always keep the right to secretly believe that some people are a little crazy when it comes to their AV choices.

At the very least you'll better understand what your client wants and why they want it. Knowing, as they say, is half the battle.



Look for my next entry (a writing one!) later this week.
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Saturday, 16 July 2011

Greetings and Introductions

Posted on 04:10 by Unknown
Welcome to my blog. As you can see from my profile, I'm a parent, technologist, and in quiet stolen moments, a writer. For those wondering:


  • As a technologist I manage commercial audio-video projects for AVI-SPL. My favorite thing about the job is the blend of technical, social, and time-management challenges it often involves. There's a real feeling of accomplishment when in turning over a large-scale, sophisticated system to a satisfied end user knowing that ones efforts made it happen.
  • I'm the parent of two wonderful children; a four and a half year old girl and a 6-week year old boy. The smartest thing anyone told me on the birth of our second child is that I should be prepared to learn that I know nothing; that different children are so different that it's easy to be complacent and not realize what a grand adventure of exploration you're in for. Again.
  • Finally, writing. I'll add links here to published works as I finish them, but they get finished very slowly. All short fiction. My first love is science fiction, but as of late I'm writing more and more fantasy and less and less SF. There's even the occaisonal story with no speculative element at all.

That's the introduction. This blog will be mainly about the wonderful world of commercial AV and about writing. 

Why put them together, you ask? Wouldn't it make more sense to have two blogs? Perhaps, but one thing I feel video on demand, internet searches, and online searchable newspapers have cost us is the serendipity of stumbling across something you'd not have ordinarily sought out, but finding it interesting anyway. So, I encourage my writer-friends to read my musings on AV and my AV friends to explore my writing hobby with me. 

See you on the blog!
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Thursday, 28 April 2011

ThinkFlood releases the RedEye Pro

Posted on 10:11 by Unknown
ThinkFlood releases the RedEye Pro

ThinkFlood, the company behind the RedEye and RedEye Mini, have just released the RedEye Pro. The RedEye Pro goes beyond the home theater control of the original RedEye and allows users to manage a wide variety of equipment, including lighting and security systems, HVAC, pumps and sprinklers, and more. The RedEye Pro still lets control the system with a PC, a smartphone, or a tablet.

The RedEye Pro comes equipped with:
Eight (8) dual-purpose 3.5mm infrared emitter/contact closure sensor ports
Four (4) contact closure relays
Two (2) RS-232 ports
Four (4) USB ports
10/100 Ethernet (via RJ45 with an internal switch)
802.11 b/g Wi-Fi

Probably due the more involved setup, the RedEye Pro is only available through authorized dealers and custom integrators.

During the month of April, ThinkFlood is offering a loyalty trade-in program for customers who purchased a RedEye product from their website prior to April 1, 2011.

For details about the trade-in program, please contact sales@thinkflood.com or call +1 617-299-2000, option 2.

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Tuesday, 8 March 2011

Pioneer introduces new AV Receivers and new Apple Apps

Posted on 14:45 by Unknown
Pioneer introduces new AV Receivers and new Apple Apps 

Pioneer introduced four new audio video receivers today: the VSX-521 ($249), VSX-821 ($349), VSX-921 ($449) and VSX-1021 ($549). All of Pioneer's receivers come with a free USB/video cable for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch that enables playback of audio, video and photos. The top of the line VSX-1021 though has new features like: Apple’s AirPlay, DLNA 1.5, Internet Radio, and compatibility with Pioneer's own custom apps: iControlAV2 and the Air Jam. AirPlay (which requires iTunes 10.1 or later and iPhone, iPad or iPod touch with iOS 4.2) allows users to listen to their iTunes music library through their home theater system and see the album art and song information on their TV. DLNA 1.5 enables streaming audio and control from compatible networked or portable devices. vTuner allows access to thousands of internet radio stations around the world. The new iControlAV2 App enables control of volume, bass, balance and room settings. When used with an iPad, all four controls are available on one screen. The app will also control any compatible Pioneer Blu-ray player. The Air Jam App when paired with the AS-BT200 Bluetooth adapter, allows up to four devices to be paired with the receiver via Bluetooth. Each user can then cue songs to create a collective playlist. Each connected device will display the list of songs added by all users and the device each song will play from. The Air Jam App will also keep the list of songs from each session on each device for future purchase through the iTunes Store.

For more information:
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Home/AV-Receivers/Pioneer+Receivers 

To purchase Pioneer products:
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Where-To-Buy

Keith Pereira







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Thursday, 3 March 2011

AMX added to the GSA contract of Blue Tech

Posted on 13:59 by Unknown
AMX has been just been added to the Government Services Administration (GSA) IT Schedule 70 and NASA SEWP IV contract of systems integrator Blue Tech. This allows federal governments as well as the NASA SEWP (Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement) GWAC (Government-Wide Acquisition Contract) to work closely with Blue Tech to obtain pre-approved IT and AV solutions from AMX. 

AMX was the first control manufacturer to pass the rigorous JITC Information Assurance (IA) Certification test administered by the DoD, which ensures that AMX control and switching equipment can operate to maximum benefit on the Defense Information Systems Networks (DISN) and remain secure. AMX has also earned the Certificate of Networthiness (CoN) from the U.S. Army for its Resource 

For more information about AMX’s government solutions: 
http://www.amx.com/markets/government/


Keith Pereira
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Apple announces iPad 2 and iOS 4.3

Posted on 13:40 by Unknown
Apple announced the much anticipated iPad 2 today. The new tablet's design is 33 percent thinner and 15 percent lighter than the original version. The iPad 2 improves on the iPad by upgrading from the single core A4 processor running at 1Ghz to the new dual-core A5 processor. It also has a front-facing VGA camera for video chat and self portraits as well as a rear-facing camera that can shoot HD video at 720p. The iPad 2 will be available in black or white and 3G models will be compatible with both AT&T’s and Verizon’s 3G networks. The iPad 2 will be available on March 11 in the US

To coincide with the announcement of the ipad 2 Apple has released iOS 4.3 which will include: faster Safari mobile browsing, iTunes Home Sharing, enhancements to AirPlay, and a personal hotspot feature for sharing an iPhone 4's cellular data connection over Wi-Fi.

For more information:
http://www.apple.com/ipad/
http://www.apple.com/ios/

To purchase an Ipad 2:
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_ipad/family/ipad/start?mco=OTY2ODA0NQ

Keith Pereira

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Friday, 18 February 2011

Crestron releases its new Core 3 OS controllers

Posted on 17:30 by Unknown
Crestron releases its new Core 3 OS controllers.

Crestron has just released its new Core 3 OS controllers. These new controllers come in three variations, the MC3, PMC3, and the PMC3XP. The MC3 is Crestron’s new entry level controller. It is powered by a new IT based generation of processor architecture and operating system called Core 3 OS. Crestron describes Core OS 3 as: “real-time, preemptive multi-threaded/multitasking kernel; Transaction-Safe Extended FAT file system, which supports up to 10 simultaneously running programs”. This enables the new 3 series controllers to, among other things, process more information at a faster rate than the previous generation controllers. While 2 series controllers required an external gateway to communicate with infiNET EX wireless devices, the MC3 now has an integrated infiNET EX wireless gateway. This new controller is also fully compatible with Crestron’s extensive line of touch panels and handheld remotes. However, Crestron also offers a host of alternate ways to control the MC3. iPhones and iPads can be used as touch panels using the Crestron Mobile Pro control app (available from the iTunes store). Apple computers can control the MC3 using Crestron’s Xpanel. Web browsers can also be used to control the MC3 through the use of Crestron’s e-Control 2.  The MC3 can even be accessed outside of its home network by using the myCrestron Dynamic DNS service. The MC3 has a 128KB L2 cache,  256MB RAM, and 2GB Flash memory storage (expandable up to 1TB). Its connections include: one 10/100 Ethernet port, one Cresnet port, three USB 2.0 ports, two RS-232 ports, five infrared/serial output ports, one infrared/serial input port, one audio in port, one audio out port, one video out port (composite and component), two relay ports, and two contact/logic input sensing ports. It also has a built in IIS v.6.0 Web Server and is IPv6 ready. Best of all, despite all of the power of the MC3, it only consumes a very green 24 Volts of DC power.
The PMC3 is a version of the MC3 that interfaces with all remotes, touch panels, dimmers, switches, and devices from the Prodigy line. The PMC3 improves on the previous PMC2 model with its new Core 3 OS, a built in infiNET EX gateway, an extra USB 2.0 port and a set of audio and video ports. The RS232 connections have also been improved, the PMC3 now uses standard DB-9 connectors instead of terminal block style connectors. While the PMC2 was limited to one controller per system, the PMC3 now has support for multiple controllers in a single system. Each PMC3 can handle a maximum of 18 user interfaces, 24 lighting zones, and 100 wireless devices. However, should a system ever become large enough to present a challenge to a single PMC3, additional controllers may be added to distribute the load. The PMC3 is available alone or as part of a PAK, which are kits that include a PMC3, a Prodigy handheld remote or touch panel, STIRP IR emitters, a USB cable, and a power supply.
The PMC3-XP is essentially the same controller as the PMC3, with however one major difference. While the PMC3 can only interface with Prodigy devices, the PMC3-XP provides a “seemless bridge” between Prodigy and the rest of Crestron’s line of products. This controller would be ideal for a someone who would like to start with a Prodigy system today, but would like to have the option to expand the system to include Crestron devices in the future.  It is also an excellent solution for someone who owns an existing Prodigy system and would like to integrate Crestron devices into the system. It would only require upgrading from the existing Prodigy controller to a PMC3-XP.

Look for a review of these processors as soon as one becomes available.

For more information click here:
http://bit.ly/fRgsFf

If you are interested in purchasing Crestron products: 
www.crestron.com/salesreps or 1-800-237-2041

Keith Pereira






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