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I got the JP1 cable (to connect my universal remote to my computer; see earlier blog) a week or so ago. Then I had to learn how to use it. There are a whole host of programs that do different things, all written by a community of people who aren’t making a dime on any of this. The main program is called IR which actually talks to the remote and can store settings in files on your computer. It has a graphical interface like a typical Windows program and presents a ton of information though you can ignore most of it.

Another program is called KeyMaster and is actually an Excel spreadsheet with tons of macros attached to it. It is used to handle “upgrades” which are the settings for operating a particular device by remote. A lot of devices are built in to the remote, but others have to be added via these upgrades because 1. the devices are newer than the remote, 2. so old no one thought they would be needed, or 3. so obscure the manufacturers of the remote didn’t include them. You can find thousands of upgrade files on the internet, but you get what you pay for. Some work okay and some don’t.

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There once was a brother named Jeb

And not many things rhyme with Jeb

And though he really likes iPods

They can’t be owned by people named Jeb

Well, they’ve been here now for two weeks. They’re all about 20 and are majoring in technical fields. Arnie did work last year in Idaho and is showing Madis and Martti the ropes. For instance Arni introduced them to peanut butter which they now both like.

I was telling a guy at work about the original story of them moving in and he said $600 a month seemed steep for one room. I was looking at it as being three roommates but he was looking at it as just the room and it shouldn’t matter so much how many people lived in it. So I figured I would lower the rent to $500. They pay by the week so I told them after the third week (figuring they were rotating the payment) I would start charging less. I still think they’re getting a good deal because they’re not setting up utilities and they get free phone and internet (their training says they are not supposed to watch TV or use the internet, but they do send e-mails).

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The New York Times had an article about the demise of Comdex which at one time was the biggest computer show and maybe the biggest of any trade show. Atlanta hosted one session of it for a number of years (the other yearly session was in Las Vegas) and it was easy enough getting free registration so I would go and spend part of a day there. Our office only had a handful of PC’s at the time and there was always a desire to see what wonderful things computers were going to bring us next (it was rarely that impressive though). It left Atlanta after it had the misfortune of occurring on the same weekend as Freaknik (thus Comdex became Geeknik) and I stopped going. After I stopped going Comdex went downhill.

Here’s the amazing part. The guy who started Comdex (short for Computer Dealers Exposition) sold the rights to having the show for $860 million to a Japanese company in 1995. They then merged it in with a publishing company they owned, Ziff Davis, spun it off with an IPO and it went bankrupt. Business failures can be every bit as spectacular as bridge failures. In less than 10 years just the idea for the convention went from being worth $860 million to nothing.

I’m attaching the article . . .

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For Father’s Day I bought Dad a universal remote control. But it isn’t just any universal remote control, it is the All For One URC-8810w. While most universal remote controls can control some number of devices by entering codes from a book, this one takes it one step further by not just providing control over up to 8 devices, but also allowing the remote to “learn” functions from the original remote (by pointing the original remote at this one and recording its infrared signal). There are four learning keys so you can learn up to 4 functions that otherwise are not available by default from each remote. It also allows the use of macros which can perform different functions even on different devices with the touch of a single button. Lastly, you can re-map a button, so you could assign power and volume for the TV to unused keys for Satellite mode. Then you could leave the remote in Satellite mode all the time and not have to switch to TV mode when you want to change volume or turn the TV off. Likewise, for the DVD you might want the volume keys to control the surround sound stereo instead of the TV volume.

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