So, ummm…this whole Grand Theft Auto thing? Yeah…

I’ve been waiting to cover this story for a good couple of weeks now, but it seems that whenever I sit down to write something up, a new series of events unfolds and I’m left wondering if I’ll end up leaving out a “valuable” piece or two of the puzzle by jumping on the bandwagon before we get anywhere with this one! But now it’s officially been about six weeks since “the filth” first hit the fan (so to speak), so quick – let’s dive in and get this over with before somebody finds something else to scream about…

To bring everyone outside of the video game world up to speed on what the big hubabaloo is all about, publisher Rock Star North made waves earlier this summer when word leaked out via the Internet that “hidden, explicit scenes” could be unlocked with their latest platinum release, Grand Theft Auto – San Andreas. First believed to have been added into the game play by a skilled hacker after the game was released, it was later uncovered that the code for these mini-games was, in fact, present on shipped discs the whole time, only requiring the use of a third party game enhancer (a la Game Genie, Game Shark, etc…) to be exposed. The scenes were justly dubbed “Hot Coffee,” as the story offers the player an opportunity to come inside for some “hot coffee” after a successful date with many of the game’s female persuasions, resulting in a handful of crude-at-best mini-games featuring pixilated (fully clothed) sexual promiscuity…not to mention one hell of an uproar from parenting and activist groups from around the country!

So fast-forward to present day – although the game was previously rated as M for mature audiences (17 and up) by the ESRB (Electronic Software Ratings Board), said uproar from sources left and right forced the ESRB to re-evaluate the title, taking into consideration this newly-discovered content and ushering forth an adults-only rating that would pull the game off of shelves with a number of major retailers (Wal-Mart, just to name one) around the nation. Rock Star North has reported that the game will be re-released later on this fall with the offending content removed to meet the original MA rating, and as you would expect, “original” versions of the game are going like hotcakes on eBay! Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to get my copy yet…

Now there are a couple of different aspects that we can look at the situation from, but first of all, just for the record – anyone who’s actually seen the screenshots from these scenes should understand that this is a classic mountain-out-of-a-molehill scenario. As I mentioned earlier, although both characters are technically “engaging” in an act, they are both fully clothed and it remains dry-humping at best – kind of like high school all over again, only this time you’ve got a nifty, little meter there on the screen to let you know just how well you’re actually doing! Anyone who can stand tall and shout allegations of indecency and lewd content most certainly hasn’t actually witnessed the scenes themselves and, although I don’t necessarily agree that it was right for the publisher not to divulge this information to the ESRB when the game was submitted for its rating, it even more so astounds me that such a fuss was made over a game…an entire series, in fact…that makes itself known for beating up hookers and running down cops.

And I really think that that’s what bothers me the most about this entire thing – it’s almost as if the people making a stink about this haven’t even seen the rest of the game. The Grand Theft Auto series has never really been a family-friendly franchise and no one has ever pushed it as such. Even looking back to the very first episode in the late 90’s where all we had was a 2d, overhead view, the original Grand Theft Auto introduced us to stealing cars and mowing down pedestrians in a mass carnage that instantly made Doom and Duke Nukem 3d old school, and it’s only gone downhill from there! Whenever I need to relieve a little stress, I know that the napalm and rocket launchers that I spent hours upon hours earning in GTA3 are only a hop, skip, and a jump away – I can be toasting innocent bystanders near and far in a matter of minutes…because I’m a mature audience and can tell the difference between reality and make believe…

I’ve got a feeling that the underlying issue here is honestly just a lack of parenting because otherwise, how are games like these falling into the hands of our impressionable youth to begin with?! I’ll tell you right now that when I do have children and they grow old enough to start playing video games, they won’t be dabbling around San Andreas anytime soon…and that’s not because of any alleged sex scenes buried within. When they get old enough to start watching the more mature movies and listening to music with explicit lyrics, then they’ll be welcome to partake in the video games that come along as well, but until then its first and foremost the parents’ responsibility to see that such rating systems are enforced – a twelve year-old shouldn’t be playing a game rated MA anymore than they should be playing one rated AO.

It’s pretty obvious that the new rating was more or less forced upon the ESRB simply because when you’ve got some of the largest conservative parenting groups in the country against you, it might not be considered in good business practices to go against the grain, and I can guarantee you that this certainly won’t be the last ratings challenge to hit the headlines now that the floodgates have been opened. Be prepared for an onslaught of hoopla in the upcoming months as we pair up our latest righteous activists looking to make names for themselves with all of the new titles readying to hit stores just in time for Christmas – it should be a feeding frenzy for the law offices, indeed! It’s too bad, really, because ultimately the industry as a whole will take the fall as more and more parents will likely be reluctant to purchase legitimate video games having heard partial or misinformation about this entire incident. Just like in any similar situation, the kids whom we don’t want getting the violent games will still have no problems finding them, and then rest of us will all have to make an extra trip to the mall to pick up our favorite titles…

Final Verdict: I, for one, do not agree with the ratings adjustment simply because I’ve seen these kinds of scenes in PG-13 movies, much less anything rated-R – shame on Rock Star for allowing the scenes to remain hidden in the first place, but even more shame on everyone else who’s made this so much more of a big deal than it needs to be. I challenge anybody to watch them for themselves and then tell me with a straight face that its still any more horrible than they had already imagined!

Feel free to get back to me on that one, but in the meantime, I’ve got some mobsters to gun down…and yes, I do have ID on me…

Every now and then I come across some cool websites that just make me go, “Wow!” While there are certainly plenty of mediocre sites out there, along with a slew that are just plain crappy, for those sites that rise above the common denominator and actually give us something worth bookmarking, it seems only fitting that we take a little time here and there to spread the love, so to speak! This is going to be one of those weeks…

Google Earth (earth.google.com)
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – today’s Google is the Yahoo! of five years ago.

First it was gmail, then they took over the map section with Google Maps and already they’ve taken their efforts about ten steps forward from there with the introduction of Google Earth, an interactive tour of the planet Earth via satellite imagery and other data already being utilized by Google Maps. If anything, this application certainly skyrockets cartography into the 21^st century as suddenly the world seems just a little bit smaller with space-age views of the Eiffel Tower and the Great Pyramids…not to mention Disney World…right at our fingertips!

If you ask me, Google Earth seems to be one of the better uses for broadband that we’ve seen lately…or at least one of the better legal ones! I couldn’t tell you how many hours I’ve already spent flying around various parts of the country, realizing just how little I actually know about the layout of the land and how to get from there to here. There’s just so much that’s already been incorporated into the interface – most of the features from Maps, in fact – and still the little extras had my eyes rolling with delight! From simple stuff like built-in screenshots and bookmarking to the more complex such as highlighting for similar businesses, the fly-overs, and even 3d imaging for downtown areas (this just blew my mind!), never before has playing around with the family globe been this much fun.

No doubt we’ll be seeing plenty of knock-offs springing up in the near future from Microsoft and company, but let’s remember that we saw it first from Google and as long as they’re able to keep the momentum that they’ve got going right now, the skies the limit for what we can expect from these guys…

Digg.com (www.digg.com)
Ever want to share bookmarks or cool links with your friends without having to import or copy & paste URLs and all of that nonsense? Welcome to the future!

Digg refers to itself as a “social bookmarking tool” that promotes technology and science websites submitted by its own users, who then in turn also vote for their favorite stories to determine which items are displayed on the site’s front page, thus effectively keeping editorial control in the hands of those who actually visit the site day after day. The site also offers a handful of options to help users publish and promote stories on their own websites and blogs as well via RSS and other mechanisms, resulting in a community atmosphere as enthusiasts in a variety of geeky categories share their favorite findings of any given day.

Another aspect to consider with Digg is their weekly podcast, Digg-Nation, hosted by former TechTV hosts Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht. The half-hour show summarizes the most popular stories dug on Digg over the previous week and really adds to the personality of the project – even if you don’t care for any of the stories that they might feature, its always fun to see what kinds of beer get highlighted each week as the duo venture forth into uncharted territories when fermentation is concerned!

Hands down, if you constantly find yourself on the lookout for the next dancing badgers or man-eating shrimp, keep an eye on Digg and consider your prayers justly answered…

Make Magazine (www.makezine.com)
Modders of the world, unite! This is your bread and butter…

Anyone who’s ever spent entire weekends amongst circuit boards and power tools building their own robot in the basement will absolutely love this new quarterly publication from O’Reilly Media focused on technology and invention. Covering topics ranging from the geeky to the extremely geeky, their latest issue dabbles in such as how to make your own working blimp and how to motorize your everyday shopping cart, not to mention a variety of “What if…”­-style columns to show that the art of innovation certainly isn’t limited to what can be explored in a lab backed with millions of dollars worth of equipment!

The website also features both a podcast and a blog that is updated several times a week, expanding on stories that simply couldn’t fit within the printed pages of the magazine itself and also giving readers an opportunity to chime in about their latest creations. For the inventor who’s looking for a new project to fill some time in between conquests for world domination and taking the kids to soccer practice, there seems to be a little something for everybody in these eyes and if not, just give it another day or two! Another reviewer compared Make Magazine to be a modern-day version of Popular Mechanics – I don’t really think much more can be said than that…

The print version can be found at a Barnes & Noble location near you or ordered from the website, and of course, the blog and podcast can also be found online. Enjoy, and let your creativity be your only limit!

If you’ve got a great link that you think I might be interested in talking about here in the future, e-mail it to me and I’ll see what I can do to share your suggestions with the rest of our readers. Happy surfing!

Ok, I gave you a couple of weeks off, but now it’s time to get back down to business…

And I promise, after this one, we’ll definitely move on to other topics not specifically related to the technology of the telephone, but first, the climatic conclusion to my adventures in slinking away from the giant price tags of Ma Bell!

If you recall, a number of weeks ago I signed on with a company called VoicePulse who provides voice over IP services to consumers – for those with the blank looks on their faces, you can read up on my past few columns for all of the ins and outs, but basically VoIP works by routing your telephone calls over the Internet instead of over the traditional copper wires that run along our streets and highways. The final step in my separation was to transfer my existing home number over to the new service and today, I’m happy to report that never again will I have to pay bloated monthly charges for a service that I barely ever use in the first place! I mean, my number transferred over successfully…

It’s a process called Local Number Portability and even though it’s been around for much longer than most would think, it wasn’t until only a couple of years ago that more than a couple people ever really bothered with it. You see, the FCC passed a little regulation back in 1996 requiring landline telephone carriers to be able to transfer numbers between one another in an attempt to encourage competition throughout the industry. Of course, you probably have never heard of this because really, who changes their home telephone carrier all that often anyways?! That, coupled with the basic fact that few options really exist out there to transfer your home number to, the Telecommunications Act of 1996 ended up being just another one of those regulations warranted only by those who knew about it in the first place.

And then, mind you, things took a lengthy change in 2003 when the floodgates for portability opened up into the wireless community, as you would rightly guess that it typically takes more than two hands to count the number of cellular providers in a given area and consumers are constantly looking to the other guy for better rates, cooler features, and shinier phones. It seems to be a simple enough idea – keep your cell phone number, change your provider, although looking back on the last two years, those behind the scenes would certainly admit that it’s a task much easier said than done! But then again, a few hours of headache on some tech guy’s part is better than having to call and tell everyone my new number any day, right?!

Well, yeah…

Now I won’t go into the technical details of the concept, except to spell out a few key notes that are important to consider for portability – first and foremost being, numbers have to stay within their own rate center. Simply put, rate centers are specific areas – along the lines of our area codes – that define where a number is physically located, so in this case, if I live in New York City and am moving to Tampa, under normal conditions I can’t take that number with me because the rules state that 585-343-1234 (just an example) has to stay in New York City. If I’m simply moving to another block in New York City, though, then chances are I can bring my old number along because they’re in the same area, but for the most part, you can see how the original guidelines really wouldn’t help most people unless they’re making short distance moves and wishing to switch to a new service provider.

Nonetheless, now we factor in the concepts of cell phones (or in my case, VoIP) because suddenly…the boundaries are gone. While the same rules remain true with respect that numbers have to stay in their home rate centers, all it takes is a little coding behind the scene and poof – I’m sitting here calling from Tampa, yet my cell phone service originates from New York City! Of course, I’m constantly roaming while in Florida and the number is only local to people in NYC, but in today’s society, different people require different things from their telephone companies and LNP is just another way of bridging that gap. Mind you, I should also mention that the exact scenario I’ve just described isn’t exactly of the norm and you might have some providers nay-naying the idea, but policies aside, it can be done and in the VoIP world, it’s been a huge selling point thus far.

So in my particular instance, I’ve now ported two separate telephone numbers over to other carriers and so far, everything’s been smooth as silk for me! The first transfer was a wireless to wireless transfer last spring when I left AllTel to bring my service to Sprint PCS – purely a financial decision – and within a day or so, everything was working great. The second number, which we’ve been following with my VoIP story, was a little more complicated, being a wireline number, and required nearly a month of time on my phone provider’s part, but in the end, I’ve got two completely new companies utilizing my way too similar to want to give up phone numbers, my bills are cheaper, and as a consumer most importantly, I got to choose where I wanted to go with my telephone numbers.

Anybody confused yet?!

Ok, so I know that it’s a bit of a geek thing and you’re really not going to hear much about it unless you specifically inquire as such at the store, but just try to imagine the possibilities here – don’t like paying two phone bills and seem to only use a cell phone anyways, but have had that old home number forever? Replace your existing cell number with your home number and say goodbye to the regular home phone. Want to switch to a competing carrier that offers cheaper service, but don’t feel like getting a brand new number after all of these years? Bring the old number with you! Own a business that’s gotten really attached to a specific number because it spells out 813-FUN-TIME or something, and yet you want to take advantage of the cheaper prices offered by VoIP? Maybe now you get the idea…

Like most technologies, it’s a great idea for the patient and geek-minded, although it can be horrendously frustrating for those who don’t know what they’re getting into – as I always say, do your homework. And if you really never get that many calls anyways and don’t particularly care about your existing number, then you might not even want to worry about it, but for the rest of us hardcore geeks with business cards and resumes and just plain stubbornness inside, there’s always another option! I would definitely say that if you’re in the market to be swapping carriers, it’s something that should certainly be considered – feel free to follow the links below to a slew of places that offer more information…

And next week, I promise that we’ll move on to a new topic, now that we’ve effectively beaten telephony into the ground around here! But what can I say? In this day and age, we rely on that constant lifeline to the rest of the world more than ever and in the upcoming years, I think we’re going to see some even more impressive journeys into the technological frontier – like they always say, this is only the beginning!

I’ve got to tell you, I’m really getting tired of pushing that little button…

…and it’s primarily because at any given time, I really haven’t the foggiest idea what in the world I’m getting myself into! Maybe I’m adding a new layer of protection to Windows Firewall, maybe I’m just tweaking some code for Notepad, or maybe I’m making a change that’s going to royally screw up any useful functions that I might still utilize my PC for – I know that they’re kind enough to give us those little “summaries” that are supposed to explain, in a matter of two sentences, why the latest updates are absolutely vital to the integrity of our systems, and from a distance, it actually seems like a good idea, doesn’t it? Monthly, and sometimes even weekly, patches direct from the developer to ensure that our computers are running as up to date and secure as possible – sounds great!

Well, at least it does until something goes horribly wrong and you find your system officially hosed, all thanks to Windows Update! That’s where I found myself this week after I set aside some time yesterday afternoon to finally download and install all of the patches that have been backlogged on my taskbar for the past month or so. I might do them more often, but as they often require completely rebooting the PC and it took me only once to realize that sometimes Microsoft doesn’t even bother to give us the option of rebooting at a later time, I tend to put these things off until I know that I’ve got some time on my hands to reboot several times…and in this case, troubleshoot the damages.

…and twenty-four hours later, it seems that I’m still going to need a little more time to get that troubleshooting done successfully…

In this particular instance, I now have the distinct pleasure of getting up to go do something else while I’m downloading something…anything, really. You see, whenever my computer tries to pull something off the Internet – a picture, a song, and especially a video or larger file – my system bogs down back to the days of the 286, where only the dream systems could run Wolfenstein 3d and multi-tasking wasn’t yet a bragging point for the Windows operating system. When the download completes, my system is returned back to normal and I can continue surfing the web, balancing my checkbook, looking at pornography, or whatever it may have been that was interrupted when the download began. In fact, even if I just happen to hit a particularly graphics-intense website, I’m toast until the download completes. Come to think of it, it’s kind of like being on dial-up all over again…

Of course, I swore to myself that I would never go back to the days of dial-up at any cost and now the same happens to apply for Windows Update, which I’m sure security experts will scorn because there are all sorts of vital improvements to be had from Windows Update! Well, to each his own and I’m not exactly about to shout out here that everyone should turn off all of the security features in their machines, but I’ve never been hit with any of the nonsense that has everyone else running scared these days. In fact, I’ve never installed anti-virus software to this date and the only firewall protection that I have in place is that which is offered by my router. I know, I’m a crazy man!

It’s just gotten out of control, up to the point where people are too paranoid to do anything online except download updates to make their machines faster and more secure…or at least that’s what they think they’re doing. I know that the Internet’s become a more chaotic place for the casual user, but I think the corporations behind these pieces of software push it to the extreme when they know all too well that a little education could help to save these people a lot more hassle than a yearly subscription to updates for their software. Then again, it’s a lot more difficult to put a price on knowledge these days, now isn’t it?

I have friends who have e-mail accounts, but it’s not worth writing to them anymore because they’ll never get my mail – “I get 1000 SPAM messages a day, so I have to run four different filtering programs!” I have fans that would love to get my columns each week in their e-mail, but can’t manage to get them past said filtering software. I even have relatives who’ve never visited any of my websites online because they get so many pop-ups now, the only website they’ll ever log into is hotmail…and that’s just to spend an hour a day deleting bulk e-mail! If someone had sat down with them and spent a good hour on the basics when they first were introduced to the Internet – don’t use your regular e-mail address to sign up for every this and that, don’t click on those little boxes when every website wants to install their own search bar in your browser, don’t believe all of the hype that the girls are spouting down at the beauty shop about the dangers of being online. If only someone had taken these steps, I think that the majority of users today would be ok, but then again, I just don’t have that kind of time on my hands!

So instead, we subject ourselves to patch after patch as the bad guys come up with new and ever-intriguing ways to invade upon our personal space, knowing all too well that eventually our PCs will become so bogged down that it’ll be time to just toss it and buy a new one that’s slightly more up to date than its predecessor. I didn’t necessarily want this to be a column based on fighting against the business model of the computing world, but it seems to me that we should be purchasing newer models because they’re bigger and better, not simply because they’re what’s needed to survive on the Internet these days. I also have to question what’s being done differently here because frankly, when was the last time you heard a huge stink about needing to patch all of the Apple or UNIX boxes around the world because of a major security flaw???

And sorry, but I don’t think that Microsoft is subject to more attacks simply because they’re the majority – the rich guy will get no pity from me here!

When it all comes down to it, I don’t really think that I ask for much out of my PC. All I need is simple access to the Internet, Microsoft Office, and the ability to run a few games or applications here and there as I get addicted to them. I’ll make the updates when you’ve deemed them important enough to release as an official service pack, but as far as these weekly bits and pieces as run across flaws and bugs – I’m done with them. It may be against my best interests from Microsoft’s point of view, but I’m sorry to report that it’s against the best interest of my free time over the next several weeks to risk having to tear my system apart, should something go wrong with what you’re trying to fix. I’ve seen the other side of the coin and just between you and me, I’ll take my chances without the five-minute updates…

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some downloading to do…sort of.

It’s a case that has technology advocates and college students around the world just a little more than slightly concerned, as the Supreme Court took measures this week reminiscent of judgments reached some twenty years ago with the infamous Betamax Case between Sony and Universal Pictures. Of course, this time the industry isn’t exactly concerned about a format that owns less than 5% of the market share and will likely become outdated within the next five years, but still…

MGM vs. Grokster came to a conclusive jolt for developers this week as the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the motion picture industry, citing that Grokster (and other such services) might be held legally responsible when its users use their service to download or otherwise acquire illegal content. Specifically, Justice David Soulter explained in the verdict, “We hold that one who distributes a device with the object of promoting its use to infringe copyright, as shown by clear expression or other affirmative steps taken to foster infringement, is liable for the resulting acts of infringement by third parties.” From the perspective of a quick-to-read swapper who’s got everything to lose, we’re all screwed.

But really, when you stop to take a second glance at this, it suddenly becomes crystal clear that without all of the hype and skewed interpretations of this ruling, MGM vs. Grokster isn’t necessarily as big of a decision as we might’ve been lead to believe. It’s stated that if you were to create a program capable of swapping files on the Internet…and promote it in favor of doing such…then yes, you’re going to get nabbed, big time. However on the other hand, if say, you’re operating more along the lines of Bittorrent creator Bram Cohen, whose wonderful program was designed to aid in the transfer of “large files” across the Internet, such as ISOs and other large images, but also happens to be unofficially used for pirating music and movies, then it seems like you still might be ok after all. Mind you, the spotlight is going to continue to pry and take focus on anything you might say or do to even suggest such activity with your software, but that’s where your business managers and/or common sense should come into play…

When I first caught wind of this case and what was going down, it was described to me along the lines of, “Anyone who doesn’t help to prevent piracy between you and other users can be sued for helping to invite it” and “Where does it end – P2P networks, your ISP, the makers of your PC itself?!” There’s been so much confusion about this case, I even read of one other example today, citing similarities akin to holding GM and Ford responsible for automobile accidents and speeding violations…but then again, I guess it’s a lot easier to drive traffic to your medium by exaggerating the truth than by telling it like it really is. Hands down – these industries are still really pissed and they’re scrambling for a legal leg to stand on because people continue to steal their product everyday and get away with it.

In part, I can’t say as I blame them, but I still hold strong in saying that I wish they’d put more focus into restructuring their marketing campaigns and increasing the quality of their product, instead of sticking to figures from the old times when they could legitimately expect $15 for a CD or $25 for any old DVD. We’ve moved beyond those times and it’s a whole new world out there, but they’d rather spend dollars in the courts than on product improvement to win back those that they’ve lost. Distributors farther on down the line are starting to get it right, as Napster and iTunes have cornered the music market and rumors have it that NetFlix and Blockbuster will be coming up shortly with a medium to stream content without ever having to leave the couch…just think of what they could do with the spending power of the production companies on board!

But anyways, in short, while MGM vs. Grokster certainly isn’t the end of the world for file sharing as we know it, hopefully if nothing else it’ll have at least opened a few more eyes – from users all the way up to developers and founders – that these industries certainly aren’t going to stop until they no longer feel that their profits are being hindered thanks to the Internet. As this is never going to happen, I’d say watch your back because they’re looking for any angle they can find and although they might not be knocking on your door today, unless you’re ready to start paying for your entertainment again, tomorrow’s only a day away…

As the summer months come thrusting upon us, we know of a few things that will remain certain – tourism will boom, ice cream sales will soar, and of course, quick to follow are always the gasoline prices. It’s almost as inevitable as the “death and taxes” mantra and with those 99-cent gallons seemingly distant on the horizon, many of us are left wondering if we’re ever going to see relief any time soon…

Mind you, the fact of the matter frankly is, “No, we’re not…” and when it all comes down to it, things are probably going to get considerably worse in the foreseeable future as supply and demand are no longer able to see eye-to-eye. I read somewhere last week a startling number that escapes me at this point, except to plague my mind with the concept that the Earth could very well run out of oil and natural gas yet within my own lifetime, if not at least by the time my children are brought into the forefront…and you know what? That’s kind of scary!!! The idea of our paying $3.00 / gallon or more at the pump, as frightening as it might sound, simply doesn’t stack up to the concept of not being able to get it altogether!

It’s because of thoughts like these that I’m always curious to hear what science and technology have to offer us as far as alternative energy sources for the future, and one article that I read this week in the local paper just goes to show you that at least some of us won’t be out hoofing it on the streets as our oil supplies come crashing to the ground…at least not as long as our appetites for fast food are still going strong…

Enter the greasemobile…powered by a diesel engine modified to run on disposed vegetable oil from the deep-fryers and cooking vats that crank out our nation’s supply of french fries day after day, the newfound vehicles offer an environmentally-friendly way to circumvent the pump altogether…and of course, the price tags that they bear – wallets are happy, Mother Earth is happy, and if you particularly like the smell of fish sticks, then chances are you’ll be quite pleased with the results as well! I’ll let you read more about the technology itself from the original story linked below, but basically the system works by starting the vehicle off of a standard diesel tank, then switching over to a separate grease tank once the oil has been heated enough to be of use to the truck’s engine…so while diesel fuel isn’t entirely removed from the equation, I’d be willing to bet that you won’t be filling up at the pump nearly as often as you used to!

Some questions that crossed my mind when I first read the article, and the answers that I’ve found:

What happens if you can’t find any grease?
Then you run off of traditional diesel fuel instead – a switch is installed so that the driver can flip between the two.

Where is all of this grease going to come from?
Well, right now the talk is to get it for free from area fast food joints because it’s easier than their having to pay to have it disposed…but obviously this won’t be the case as popularity increases. Right now, however, there can’t be more than a handful of these things in my own area, for example, and I’m sure that they’d be smart to work out agreements with the restaurants on getting “dibs” on the waste…

Does this only work for diesel engines?
Yes – it’s a specific of the way that the engine works internally…that I can’t describe…but the overall concept will only work with a diesel engine.

How much does it cost?
The kits appear to be available online starting at about $1000, although I’m sure that make and model have something to do with it.

Is the world around you forever going to smell like fried food after making the switch?
I hate to say it, but probably – they say that the emissions from these vehicles tends to take on the odors of whatever was cooked the most in your batch of oil on any given day. Not that the ever-imposing stench of hush puppies would get old after a while…

Of course, obviously this isn’t for everybody and contrary to how the article describes it, I can’t see selling the old lady on finally getting her Excursion or Expedition with the footnote that it has to be converted to run on veggie oil, but for the enthusiastic and environmentally concerned that are willing to spend a little extra time and effort to help save some energy, in theory it should help to cut down on their pocketbooks just as electric cars have already done so.

That having been said, I’m definitely curious to see where things go from here because hopefully this is only the beginning of our seeing some true innovation come to light as oil consumption becomes more and more of a concern worldwide. While it’s sometimes sad to see the state that things must get to before science steps up to the plate with an answer, the results themselves are pretty exciting to entertain…and if it requires my continuing commitment to the enjoyment of french fries in order to be successful, then I – for one – am proud to step up to the plate and do my part!

Related Links:

(I originally read about this story in the Tampa Tribune, but as their website is utterly useless and doesn’t have the article online a mere week after it printed, enjoy this similar piece from the San Luis Obispo Tribune instead…)

Make that a burger, fries and a tank full of grease
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/news/nation/11843078.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

Greasecar Vegetable Fuel Systems
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Now I know that I promised a long-awaited column about Local Number Portability this week, however I have some good news and some slightly less good news…

The Good News – according to the website of my existing landline phone provider (a local bell), my home phone number now has an order scheduled for it to be disconnected…i.e. the request to port-out was confirmed and everything is a go

The Slightly Less Good News – said order isn’t set to take place until July 13^th, so we’ve got a couple of weeks yet before the action itself takes place and I’m finally able to write my last check to Ma Bell

And of course, the underlying issue here is that I wanted to use this particular experience to tell everyone about the ins and outs of number portability, so what I’m going to do is appropriately stall for the next two and a half weeks until we see what actually happens with my line…as many of you know, getting the confirmation – or ok to port – is only half the battle!

So in the meantime, I thought that we’d first take some time here to expand on what I introduced last week – the wonderful world of Voice-over-IP technology! As I kind of brushed over the surface rather quickly last week, there were undoubtedly many questions that came up and so over the next few paragraphs, I’m going to do my very best to cover what you want to know about VoIP in just a little more detail…

For starters, like we said last week in our overview, simply put – VoIP directs your telephone calls over the Internet, however the big difference between the technology today and previous attempts to use the Internet for telephony is that now you get to use your own phone…not the cheap microphone that came with your PC. In fact, just one of the nice things is that your PC really has nothing to do with it this time – your provider sends you a small box which you plug into your broadband router, you plug your traditional, everyday phone into that very same box, and boom – you’ve got dial tone! You’re assigned a ten-digit telephone number just like with any other phone service and anyone else with a phone of some sort can still call you – really, the only difference is that this time, the sound waves that make up your call are getting digitized and sent over the Internet instead of over those copper wires outside of your house.

So what exactly does this mean? Well, quite easily the number one bell ringer is that it’s a whole lot cheaper! By utilizing the existing network infrastructure of the Internet, there’s instantly one less very large (and very expensive) piece of the puzzle that service providers have to even worry about. You’ve already got an Internet connection running into your home, so instead of installing a separate line of their own to connect you with the rest of the world, these guys have opted to basically use what’s already there – pretty cool, eh?! Of course, prices most certainly vary by provider – depending on special features and whatnot – but you can get monthly phone service via VoIP for as low as ten or fifteen bucks a month…and considering that merely local service from my own phone company cost me fifty bucks a month, there’s instant savings right there.

But that’s definitely not the end of it, either – taking advantage of the lower overhead, VoIP companies are also able to offer loads of extra features…many even free of charge…in place of the pricey feature packs that we’ve all gotten accustomed to from the Bells. Call forwarding, Caller ID blocking, Do Not Disturb, and even voicemail – not only do they often get included in your standard monthly fee, but often times you’re even able to control them directly yourself via the provider’s website, so there’s no more calling the central office to request that your home phone gets forwarded to your cell while you’re out of town…

Also very cool with the coming of VoIP is the breakdown of regional barriers. This was kind of introduced with cell phones, however it’s not really marketed because it can sometimes cause the provider more hassle than good – basically, giving you a New York telephone number when you’re actually residing in Los Angeles. Home phones can’t do it because you don’t physically live there, cell phones are touchy because although technically “possible,” you might very well be roaming all the time and that gets a little sticky, but with VoIP, you’re connected to the network via the Internet – no one cares where you actually are anymore! Now it becomes a toss up because although you might incur long distance to all of your local friends by choosing a number out west, if Mom lives out west and suddenly you’re a local call away for her, then it just might be worth it after all. It should also be noted that, such as in my own particular case, many of the “local calling areas” offered by VoIP companies are significantly larger than what Ma Bell might provide – you’ll find these kinds of details on each individual provider’s website.

But nonetheless, I think the most important feature offered to us by VoIP is that it now gives consumers a choice as far as who they want to purchase their telephone services from…which we really haven’t had in the past. Even in the large metropolitan area that I live in, there’s pretty much one giant telephone company and if I want a home phone, I’m going through them regardless of how much they want to charge me. That’s the worst part, in my opinion, because although I do like and appreciate the cellular revolution, I grew up on having an actual telephone in the house and I don’t like the idea of being limited to my cell phone when I’m at home…nor do I want to be giving my cell phone number out to every Tom, Dick, and Harry company that I interact with on a daily basis! It’s especially tough for me to stomach $50 / month for a phone that I hardly ever use, but still want around, and for me, VoIP just happens to be the much cheaper alternative to my problem.

But don’t get me wrong – you’re not going to hear me saying that it’s for everybody…at least not just yet. I’ve said the same thing about broadband Internet access and although I’m happy to learn that tech support and customer service has gotten much better at assisting the less computer savvy with their blazing-fast Internet access when simply just asking them to power-cycle their modem is a chore, I don’t think that most of the general public is ready for VoIP yet. Mostly because there is a learning curve with new technologies like this and you’ve got to have patience to handle the occasional outages and hiccups as they work out the kinks, but also partially just because it’s simply not completely and utterly running gold yet – a great deal of testing should be done to determine whether or not your home is ready to make the switch yet…before you do it…but I do think that they’re getting there. This ringing phone on my desk is proof of that!

So what kinds of things would I recommend looking into if this is an avenue that you’re seriously considering?

Technically Speaking…

· Is someone in your house going to be technical enough to support it on your own? Sure, they’ve all got “some help” available, but it’s not to the point where I’d just hand my own Mother over to their mercy…

· Is your broadband connection fast enough to even support VoIP? Statistically, most providers require a solid 90kbps (that kilobits, not kilobytes) going in each direction to maintain quality audio – some even more, and some less by means of compression. My broadband connection provides 5Mbps downstream and 384kbps upstream and I’ve yet to experience any problems, even while downloading. This is really a pretty standard package, but if you subscribe to some sort of broadband lite service, you may want to check the actual specs before continuing.

Knowing Your Phone Bill…

· Although not an issue for cable modem users, many DSL advocates actually receive special pricing on their Internet service because they also have a local phone line with the company – many even require it! Be sure to check into this if you have DSL and think you’re just going to shrug the phone line and retain your Internet connection at the same time…

· Check with your phone company and voice your concerns before leaving, though – they just might be willing to work with you! I only use my home phone for minimal calls and the lowest stripped-down line was still outrageously priced, but you never know until you actually ask.

Think About the Children (and the wife, too!)…

· It’s a family decision, so you really need to communicate if you’re going to undertake a new challenge like VoIP. If your wife uses the phone every day to call her sister across the country, let her do some tests to make sure that the quality is good enough for her standards, too! If you’ve got young children in the house, the current 9-1-1 debacle is definitely worth taking into consideration, and even if it’s just yourself at home, I’d still recommend doing plenty of research, reading local reviews and whatnot, and just educating yourself before taking the next step.

And First Thing’s Last – Consider the Savings…

· No matter how you want to slice it, that extra $35 / month isn’t going to cause you anything but grief if you don’t honestly prepare yourself before undertaking VoIP – just recall the last time you spent your lunch hour on hold with tech support and ask yourself how much you would’ve paid right then to just finish that pizza! I’ll say it again – if you’re not a patient person who’s understanding of technology and its flaws, you’d better hold off…

Of course, once you’ve figured everything out on paper (or online, if you will) and things seem to be lining up in your favor, then I’d by all means recommend placing an order to try everything out for yourself! Choose a company that both meets your requirements and also offers a 30-day, money-back guarantee and just go to town. When it comes down to it, plenty of consumer reports can help to sway your vote one way or another, but for all you know, you could just have a lot of extraordinarily bitter neighbors! The only sure-fire way that you’ll know whether or not VoIP is right for you is by testing it out for yourself – make and receive plenty of calls during that trial period and just keep your ear open for anything that doesn’t sound like a normal phone call. You might be lucky and score a great provider on your first try, and you also might choose ones that’ll have you calling for that RMA number within a matter of hours – you never know until you try for yourself!

For those who do opt to take on the challenge that is Voice-over-IP, best of luck to you! I’ve heard stories of these things working straight out of the box…and I’ve also heard of some very long nights spent fighting with routers and firmware settings and all of that good stuff. It’s not for the meek by any means, but once it’s up and running as it should, I’d bet my wooden nickel that you’ll be pleasantly satisfied! Dial safely…

Related Links:

• VoicePulse – my own VoIP of choice, seems to be working great so far!
• Vonage – the “big daddy” of the VoIP world, if you’ve heard about VoIP, you’ve probably heard about Vonage…
• FCC / VoIP – a federal explanation of VoIP
• Broadband Reports – a great source for consumer reports and reviews grading not only VoIP, but also cable and DSL services as well – very useful!

I’m sure you’ve all heard the back and forth about it by now – that’s why I wanted to wait a little while before writing this column…it saves a little elbow grease on my part! No, no – seriously, I was actually holding off on this one not only because I wanted to see which way the tables would turn on a number of existing issues with Voice-Over-IP technology, but also because, being the geek that I am, I wanted to have a chance to test things out for myself before tossing my opinion out there and, for the record, I am certainly glad that I waited a little while!

To offer just a very brief highlights course regarding what VoIP exactly is for those who haven’t yet caught the fever, simply put – VoIP involves sending your telephone calls over the Internet, as opposed to the traditional copper wiring that lines the streets of nearly every suburban corner of the country. Now don’t get confused, as many attempted something along these lines a few years ago with various “Internet phones,” featuring loads of static and crackled connections at best…and one other thing, you had to physically be sitting in front of your computer to do so – who wants that?! The idea was kinda neat, but let’s face it – consumer America doesn’t want to have anything to do with IP addresses and trunk lag – just plug my phone into the wall and be done with it.

And that’s pretty much what they started doing last year, as you might remember a number of VoIP services popping up around springtime last year (about the same time as the rural phase of Local Number Portability came into effect, but we’ll talk about that next week). Vonage was one of the top players, throwing their hat into the ring first in hopes of scooping up the market share, and although I haven’t seen the numbers lately, I’ve got a feeling that they’re still pretty much at the top of their game. I didn’t end up going with them when I signed up a few weeks ago, for reasons that will be discussed later, but hands down, now consumers have a myriad of choices at their fingertips and unfortunately, it seems that some of them are jumping from Ma Bell’s ship just a little too quickly without reading all of the fine print…

One of the main issues, yet also features, with VoIP is that you’re not really tied to any specific location when using the service, as opposed to your traditional landline telephone which is located at a specific service address (usually your home or office). The plus of this scenario therein lies, for the frequent flier as an example, that he can bring his VoIP hardware (typically a small box no bigger than your standard cable modem) with him on the road and suddenly, anywhere he has Internet access – a hotel room, remote office, or even local wi-fi hotspot – he has his home telephone with him, or another number of his choosing. The number stays the same wherever he is in the country, so now our traveler’s wife and children have a local number where they can reach Dad on the road, without worry of wasting cell phone minutes. Pretty cool, eh?

Well, the other side of that coin is that obviously, if you’re not tied down to one specific location, there’s no way to tell where your calls are originating from…a very important feature that 9-1-1 emergency services tend to rely on when they receive your call! As they don’t know whether you’re calling from your house in Burbank, CA or a hotel room in Atlanta, GA, consequently many providers are routing these calls to non-emergency phone numbers which isn’t where you want them to go in the event of an emergency. It’s not the providers fault – their systems simply aren’t setup to be compatible with 9-1-1, but although the warnings are out there, some people have already made the switch without taking this into account and in one particular instance, the family believes that VoIP is to blame for the death of their daughter because they didn’t know that they couldn’t dial 9-1-1…

Although a sad and unfortunate case, I certainly don’t think that this bears reason to halt production on VoIP and it didn’t stop me from switching over, either. However just as in any other big decision that affects an entire household, the pros and cons need to be weighed before signing that final release to order the service and say goodbye to higher phone bills. Of course, the fractional cost was a huge factor in swapping over my own line – I’d been searching for a way to cut down the checks that I’d been sending my local phone company for quite some time now and after the switch, my bill has dropped from $50 to $15 / month – very nice! And although I don’t use them, the features that my VoIP provider includes for free in my package probably would’ve cost another $20 / month from my old phone company. As far as 9-1-1 is concerned, I personally don’t have children in my home and in addition to making my guests aware of this issue when they visit, I also have a list of local emergency numbers posted by the phone just in case.

“But how’s the quality?!” you ask? Well, simply put, the quality that I’ve experienced thus far with VoIP has been spectacular – completely contradictory to all of the negative press that you’ve been hearing from the traditional companies as they watch their base drift away! I tested out my system for about two weeks before signing the paperwork to port over my home telephone number and say goodbye to Ma Bell myself, and so far everything has been great – no static, no echoes, no worries…and no overhead bills that seem unnecessary, either! My local calling area is larger than every before and long distance is cheaper than the “special package” that I used to purchase monthly for an extra fee with the other guys – needless to say, I’m hooked!

So is VoIP for everybody? Probably not, but if you’ve got a geeky guy at home itching for a new project and you’d like to see your phone bills drop significantly, then it’s certainly worth the research to consider if it’s right for your own home! More importantly, however, I think both sides of the fence are hopefully going to start seeing the benefits of VoIP in dropping telephone rates across the board because as their customers continue to flock elsewhere, these big guys are going to have to start doing something different in order to stay afloat. They might not be budging yet – anyone who’s checked into prices lately can vouch that the Bells offering their own VoIP services still want to charge double what these smaller, new guys are asking, but I think it’s only a matter of time before they realize that it’s time to take one for the team if they’re going to continue to stay on top of the telephony industry! Between cell phones and VoIP, they’re certainly getting a run for their money…

So there you have it – my official thumbs up for VoIP…a simple web search for the term should give you plenty of more information to help decide if it’s right for you, as a number of factors (including your Internet connection speed and amount of actual phone use) apply here that I didn’t even touch upon, so do your homework and make the right decision for yourself! Next week I’ll brush on a related topic – Local Number Portability - and how it’s affected me so far, both with VoIP and my own personal cell phone. Until then, surf safely and never underestimate the little guy!

Remember back when only the geekiest of the geeks had blogs?!

Now it seems like everyone and their sister – literally – is throwing down their thoughts, ideas, and seemingly random blatherings each and every day on websites across the Internet. A chicken in every pot and a blog for every man, woman, and child…and in some eccentric households, every dog and cat as well! And while you or I might not necessarily be interested in reading about each and every one of them, well you’ve at least got to admit that it’s simply amazing to see technology sweep over a culture like that. Almost makes you wonder just what the next big thing might be…

Of course, some might argue that, in fact, said next big thing is already here in the form of the podcast and really, I wouldn’t be all that surprised to hear rebuttals popping up in audio form just as soon as this hits the web – as fast as the speed of life, they say? Now where we once had a great, textual whiteboard to spell out our ideas to the masses stands a megaphone to broadcast whatever your little heart desires and all you really need to get started is a microphone, a computer, and well, something to talk about! From pop culture to movies to entire radio shows discussing the mating habits of the African honeybee, if you can dream it and there’s at least one other person out there somewhere who shares your visions, chances are there’s a podcast for it, too.

Which you’ve got to admit that, technologically speaking, is pretty darn cool because with every new step that we take these days, we seem to be opening up the doors of communication to both new producers and new audiences alike – yesterday it was the written word with blogs, wikis, and other online diaries, today radio shows and all sorts of new audio content is popping up to share views of this, that, and the other thing, and come to think of it, its not even tomorrow yet and we’ve already got techies experimenting with video to make their own TV programs over the Internet! The concepts of public radio and public access TV are being thrust to new heights and only the most imaginative can tell where we’ll be going next…

But by this point, chances are a good portion of you might still be wondering just what exactly in the heck I’m talking about…well, allow me to elaborate. Specifically getting back to podcasting, the idea stems from being able to create your own audio content and put it out on the Internet for anyone and everyone to enjoy. The name itself is said to have come about from Apple’s iPod, however you certainly don’t need a $300 MP3 player to listen – anything will do, including simply your own personal computer that you play music on today. As far as creation and broadcasting is concerned, those currently partaking in the fun range anywhere from merely using the microphone that was provided with their computer all the way up to full-blown mixing boards and professional-grade microphones – it truly is a hobby where you can spend as little or as much as you’d like. Your only real limits are your own creativity and the amount of bandwidth that your Internet host is willing to supply…and thanks to bittorrent and other file-sharing alternatives out there, most find that that’s not necessarily even an issue anymore, either…

I first got interested in podcasting myself after learning that the former hosts of TechTV’s The Screen Savers would be reuniting to host a weekly radio show about technology and computers and pretty much all of the geek stuff that I used to enjoy five days a week before G4 took over the station. It didn’t take long before I noticed a lot of different shows popping up for my various interests, not only of technology, but also writing, pop culture, humor – you name it! As a welcome change to the same, old CDs that I’d been listening to throughout my workday, I started downloading these podcasts (most of which offered new episodes weekly) and after about three weeks, I was hooked.

Of course, you can imagine that there have been some stumbling points along the way…as anyone would naturally expect from a new technology, really…and even today things are getting better and better as we go. One of the most prominent that comes to mind, however, really has nothing to do with the technical aspect of podcasting itself and that would be along the lines of keeping a schedule (mind you, something that many webmasters and blog writers are still struggling to manage these days!). The difference between hosting a professional radio show and hosting a podcast, some might admit, is whereas in the professional arena, chances are you’d have a handful of managers, investors, etc… none too happy with you for simply “missing” a broadcast or two here and there, but for the casual podcaster, there’s really nobody to force you away from the TV on a Tuesday night to finish post-production on your latest show before it hits the Internet…

Well, no one except for your listeners, that is, and I’ve already seen it happening a bit where a podcast’s listeners are upset for not being able to expect their favorite radio show updated at the same time each week – from the listener’s point of view, there is no distinction between commercial radio and those doing it simply for a love of their topic. And honestly, I really do think that this will expand to be a good thing later on down the road because as we’ve already seen, there are simply a lot of topics covered by podcasters that the bigger conglomerates are never going to be able to because its not profitable, and this is where podcasting really shines! Clear Channel would never see fit to dedicate an hour a week on their networks for Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Bee Keeping, but for the local technologist-turned-beekeeper who’s looking for something to do on a Tuesday night, its time to open up the phone lines! It might take a little self discipline to get over the hurdles of taking on a new project that caters to such an audience, but just like getting a new puppy, there’s a whole lot of fun to be had in between those sporadic incidents of cleaning up urine off of the new carpet!

So are you ready to give the next step in Internet radio a shot? You’ll find a variety of links at the end of this article highlighting not only my own personal favorite podcasts, but also a handful of directory sites to peruse if you’re not exactly sure what you’re looking for just yet. And for those of you iPod enthusiasts who are already knee-deep in the world that is Apple’s iTunes, you should find plenty of great links imbedded right into the application – just a simple click on the subscribe button and you’ll have all of the latest shows streamed straight to your proprietary MP3 player of choice! But enough of this plain text experience – its time to get out there and entertain the next generation of radio…

P.S. I’m always looking for great, new podcasts to add to my own playlist (especially those that dabble in the realms of humor and technology), so feel free to e-mail me any suggestions that you don’t already see in the list below. You never know what kinds of gems you might be sitting on…

Related Links:

• iTunes
• Podcast Alley
• This Week in Tech (TWiT)
• The Chris Pirillo Show
• DiggNation
• The Delta Park Project
• Sam and Jim Go to Hollywood

It’s going to be a great weekend, let me tell you! To be honest, I’m surprised that I’m actually taking the time to even write here this evening…

You see, in cleaning out the remaining mountain ‘o boxes that I had previously left behind up in Michigan, I actually came across something that I wanted to find, that being a whole box of my old video games for the Super Nintendo! One way or another, I’d gotten on a huge eBay kick before I left for Michigan, searching day and night for auction lots to make up all of the old games that had been presumably lost in the shuffle…and things hadn’t been going so great. A couple of the classics were found, such as F-Zero and Pilot Wings, but mind you, I had never even bought them in the first place so they don’t really count! I was on the hunt for the Zeldas, the Marios, and maybe even if I was feeling particularly bored, the Sim Citys…

And so approximately 1500 miles and half a day’s worth of digging through rubble, I found a small, orange box that more or less made the entire trip worthwhile! (…other than sharing time with friends and family, going home for the first time in two years, and getting to see my little sister graduate, mind you!) Super Mario World and All-Stars, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, and of course, Home Alone - arrrggghhhh! The find was almost like rediscovering Christmas and had it not been for the fact that the actual console itself was still back home at the other end of the country, the nostalgia would’ve come rolling back in troves and officially marked my vacation as forfeit. In retrospect, I guess it was probably better off that I’d have to wait until I got home before committing myself to hours upon hours…upon hours in front of the TV like I was thirteen again, but really, who’s got the time to whip up the colossal batch of Chex Mix as required for such a gaming experience while they’re on vacation, anyways?!

Of course, the age-old question that races through my mind as I sit here playing the games of my childhood for hours on end is painfully simple – why doesn’t anyone make games like these anymore? Maybe it’s just a part of being old-fashioned, but when I sit down to play video games, I have only a couple of requirements: make it simple enough to where I can understand it (because frankly, I don’t like to have to think when I’m trying to relax!), make it simple enough to where I can sit down and only play for five or ten minutes if my schedule doesn’t allow for anything more, and of course, make it fun. And mind you, a lot of the modern games that I’ve played still manage to hit the nail on the head with respect to that last one, but otherwise, I’m sitting there for hours upon hours, hint guides and tips from the Internet spread out across the table, and it becomes all too clear that I’m not getting up to do anything else any time soon! While I’ve got no objections to the occasional game day as it presents itself, just see how your significant other takes to learning that buying you the new Grand Theft Auto game was the equivalent of inviting game month into your home…good luck with that one!

Maybe it’s just a case where technology has advanced so far that somebody has decided that we shouldn’t be satisfied with a two-dimensional Super Mario scrolling across the screen in 16-bit action at best. It seems today that if it’s not in 3d, preferably 1^st person, and requiring a minimum of 80 hours of game play to conquer, then consumers simply won’t be interested and I really think that we’re cutting off a classic branch of entertainment by thinking that way. Of course, one might argue that it wouldn’t make anymore sense to program for the NES or SNES at this point than it would to start working on applications for the Apple 2e again…old school might be fun for a few of us old farts, but I guess it’s just not all that profitable and we all know what drives this industry…

But while I think that I’ve come to accept the fact that there won’t be any new old school games to be found out there on the shelves, I find comfort in that old television saying, “If I haven’t seen it, it’s new to me!” as I continue to browse through hundreds of listings on eBay for classics that I’ve never even experienced yet. So let Sony and Nintendo and Microsoft battle over their next generation, $300 consoles and the uber-amazing graphics that will pour out of them to only the finest of home entertainment systems – in the meantime, I’ll be right here trying to once again uncover the secrets of why Mario, in fact, is missing…in wonderfully-gritty clarity on the 52-incher, and that’ll be just enough for me!